Ushikichi Nakae

A Chinese scholar and thinker in the Taisho and Showa periods. The eldest son of Nakae Chomin. After graduating from the Faculty of Law of Tokyo Imperial University, he went to Beijing in 1914 (Taisho 3) as secretary to Ariga Nagao, an advisor to Yuan Shikai, and lived there permanently. He is famous for saving the life of his old acquaintance Cao Ruolin during the May Fourth Movement in 1919. From this time on, he devoted himself to the study of ancient Chinese thought history, which he carried out with the support of Saionji Kinmochi and the South Manchuria Railway, but he also read Kant, Hegel, and Marx in detail, and helped Katayama Sen and Sano Manabu, who were in hiding. Suzue Genichi, a collaborator of the Chinese revolution, was also mentored by Nakae. During the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War, Nakae declined invitations from Prime Minister Konoe Fumimaro and China Area Army Commander Tada Shun, and instead maintained his position as an ordinary citizen, predicting the defeat of Japan and Germany. His strict scientific rationalism and humanistic critical spirit were exactly what Chomin inherited. After his death, he published books such as "Ancient Chinese Political Thought" (1950) and "Collected Letters of Nakae Ushiyoshi" (1964).

[Mamoru Wada]

"The Human Image of Nakae Ushikichi" edited by Yoshinao Sakatani and Tadashi Suzuki (1970, Fumaisha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

大正・昭和期の中国学者、思想家。中江兆民の長男。東京帝国大学法科大学卒業後、1914年（大正3）袁世凱(えんせいがい)の顧問有賀長雄(ありがながお)の秘書として北京(ペキン)に赴き、永住した。19年の五・四運動の際、旧知の曹汝霖(そうじょりん)の命を救ったことは有名。このころより中国古代思想史の研究に傾注し、その研究は西園寺公望(さいおんじきんもち)や満鉄の援助を受けて進められたが、他方カント、ヘーゲル、マルクスを精読し、潜行中の片山潜や佐野学(まなぶ)らを助けた。中国革命の協力者鈴江言一(げんいち)も中江の薫陶を受けている。日中・太平洋戦争中、近衛文麿(このえふみまろ)首相や多田駿(しゅん)支那(しな)方面軍司令官らの招請を断り、市井の一生活者としての立場を固守し、日独の敗北を予言していたという。厳格な科学的合理主義とヒューマニスティックな批判的精神はまさしく兆民を継ぐものであった。死後に著書『中国古代政治思想』（1950）や、『中江丑吉書簡集』（1964）などが出ている。

［和田　守］

『阪谷芳直・鈴木正編『中江丑吉の人間像』（1970・風媒社）』

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