Chikuzan Nakai

Japanese: 中井竹山 - なかい・ちくざん

Year of death: 5 February 1804 (16 March 1804)
Year of birth: May 13, 15 of the Kyoho era (June 27, 1730)
A Confucian scholar in the mid-Edo period. Born in Osaka. His given name was Sekizen, his pen name was Shikei, and he was commonly known as Zenta. He was known by the names Takeyama Koji, Doguanzi, Cho'o, and Setsu'o. He was the eldest son of Nakai Ken'an Haya. His posthumous name was Fumie. His ancestors followed Maeda Gen'i and Kuroda Josui, and his great-grandfather served the Wakisaka clan as a doctor before moving to Tatsuno in Banshu (Tatsuno City, Hyogo Prefecture). He had a younger brother, Riken, two years younger than him. His fourth son, Shoen, and seventh son, Sekika, continued the school. In the year that Takeyama was born, Miyake Seki'an, the first head of Kaitokudo, passed away, and his father, Ken'an, became the second head of the school. He became passionate about learning from the age of about 10, and in 1743 (Kanpo 3), he studied under Goi Ranshu, his father's close friend and assistant professor at the school. In 1758, his father died, and according to his will, Miyake Seki'an's son Shunro became the third head of the school, with Takeyama taking charge of school affairs as the trustee. From the autumn of 1782, he was in charge of the morning lectures on the 2nd and 7th, and after Ranshu's death the following year, he also took on the role of professor. In 1782, at the age of 53, after Shunro's death, he became the fourth head of the school, and advocated Neo-Confucianism, greatly inspiring the school's style. With the help of his younger brother Riken, the school reached its peak and had many followers. In 1795, Matsudaira Sadanobu, who was inspecting Osaka, questioned him about current affairs. In 1792, Kaitokudo burned down, but efforts were made to restore it, and it was rebuilt in 1795. The following year, he handed over the role of trustee to his eldest son, Shoen. Chikuzan was a strong man with a wealth of insight into the world and economics. He followed Cheng-Zhu (Song school) as his school of learning, but was also flexible enough not to reject Lu Wang (Yangming school), and respected both classic texts. He was skilled in poetry and prose, and had elegant friendships with the literati of the Kontonsha. His grave is at Seiganji Temple in Uehonmachi, Osaka. <Works> "Shirucho", "Hicho", "Touzai Yuuki", "Kusakagi Kigen", "Ichishi", "Den'inshu", "Chikuzan Kokujito" <References> Nishimura Tokihiko, "Kaitokudo Ko" (reprint, 1984), Kaji Nobuyuki et al., "Nakai Chikuzan, Nakai Riken"

(Norihisa Mizuta)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：享和4.2.5(1804.3.16)
生年：享保15.5.13(1730.6.27)
江戸時代中期の儒学者。大坂生まれ。名は積善,字は子慶,通称は善太。竹山居士,同関子,渫翁,雪翁と号した。中井甃庵,早の長男。諡は文恵。先祖は前田玄以,黒田如水に従い,曾祖父は医として脇坂氏に仕え播州竜野(兵庫県竜野市)に移った。2歳下に弟・履軒がいる。4子蕉園,7子碩果が学を継いだ。竹山誕生の年,懐徳堂初代学主三宅石庵が没し,父甃庵が2代学主となった。10歳ごろから学問に発憤,寛保3(1743)年父の親友で堂の助教五井蘭洲に師事した。宝暦8(1758)年父が没し,遺言により三宅石庵の子春楼が3代学主,竹山は預り人として学務に携わった。11年秋以降は2日・7日の朝講を担当,翌年蘭洲没後は教授を兼ねた。天明2(1782)年53歳,春楼没後,4代学主となり,朱子学を標榜,大いに堂風を振起し,弟履軒の協力もあり,その最盛期を築いて従学者が多かった。8年大坂巡視の松平定信より時務を下問された。寛政4(1792)年懐徳堂は類焼したが復興に努め,8年再建。翌年預り人を長男蕉園に譲った。竹山は偉丈夫で経世的識見に富み,学は程朱(宋学)を宗としつつ陸王(陽明学)も斥けぬ融通性を具え,経学文章を併せ尊んだ。詩文をよくし,混沌社の文人とも雅交を結んだ。墓所は大阪上本町誓願寺。<著作>『詩律兆』『非徴』『東西遊記』『草茅危言』『逸史』『奠陰集』『竹山国字牘』<参考文献>西村時彦『懐徳堂考』(復刻,1984),加地伸行等『中井竹山中井履軒』

(水田紀久)

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