Hayashi Razan

A Confucian scholar in the early Edo period. His given name was Nobukatsu and his pen name was Shishin. He shaved his head and called himself Doshun. His pen name was Razan. He was born in Kyoto in August of the eleventh year of Tensho. In 1595 (Bunroku 4), he entered the Rinzai sect's Kenninji Temple and studied Confucianism and Buddhism, but after returning home in 1597 (Keicho 2), he devoted himself to Confucianism, studying Zhu Xi's chapters and verses and commentaries (commentaries on the Four Books), and became devoted to Song learning and rejected Buddhism. He studied under Fujiwara Seika from 1604, and was recommended by him to be employed by the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1607. He served four Shoguns, Ieyasu, Hidetada, Iemitsu, and Ietsuna, lecturing on Confucian and historical texts as a lecturer. He was also always by the Shogun's side, researching ceremonies and rites, formulating laws, collecting and editing ancient books and records, and drafting diplomatic documents. In 1630 (Kan'ei 7), he was given land by Shogun Iemitsu in Shinobugaoka, Ueno, Edo, where he built a private school, library, and Confucius shrine (which were later moved to Shoheizaka in Kanda and became the Shoheizaka Academy and church under the direct control of the shogunate), paving the way for the Hayashi family's Neo-Confucianism to become the official school of the shogunate. Razan lost his library at his main residence in Kanda in the Great Fire of Meireki in 1657 (Meireki 3), and in his despair he fell ill and died four days later on January 23rd.

Razan's learning ranged from the old commentaries of the Han and Tang dynasties to the works of Lu Xiangshan (Jiuyuan) and Wang Yangming (Shujin), and from the various schools of thought to Japanese classics, but he was centered on Zhu Xi's philosophy. In other words, when Razan followed Fujiwara Seika, he was inclined to Wang Yangming's theory of Li-chi, but after Seika's death in 1619 (Genwa 5), ​​he clearly declared that he was adhering to Zhu Xi's theory of Li-chi. He believed that heaven (the Taikyoku, undivided from reason and qi) was inherent in all human and natural things, and that heaven created everything through qi and governed everything through reason. He declared that praising the workings of heaven (the Way of Heaven) was the way of humanity, and claimed that the practice of this way of humanity began with the study of things (his works include ``Shunkansho'' (1629), ``Santokusho'', ``Seiri Jigi Genkai'', and ``Collection of Poems and Prose by Professor Hayashi Razan''). Razan interpreted Shinto from the standpoint of Neo-Confucianism and established 'Shinto with a sense of reason', becoming a forerunner of early modern Confucian Shinto (his works include 'Shinto Transmission' (1644-1647), 'Honcho Jinja Ko' (1638-1645), and 'Shinto Hiden Oretsu Zoku Kai').

Ieyasu employed Razan not because he understood the Neo-Confucianism that Razan espoused or recognized that it supported the new feudal system, but primarily because he wanted to put Razan's learning to practical use in politics.However, there was an internal relationship between the ideas of Neo-Confucianism and the ideals of Tokugawa feudal politics, and it is thought that this relationship was the reason why Razan's descendants were in charge of education and education in the shogunate for generations as Daigaku no Kami (head of the University), and why Neo-Confucianism became the official school of thought that supported the shogunate-han system.

Razan had four sons, the eldest and second died young. The third son, Harukatsu, who took the name Gaho, was born in 1618, and the fourth son, Morikatsu (1625-1661), who took the name Tokukosai, was born in 1625, both in Kyoto. Gaho succeeded his father in serving the shogunate as head of the university, and Tokukosai was also employed by the shogunate. During Razan's lifetime, the two sons assisted their father in compiling history books, such as "Kan'ei Shoka Keizuden" and "Honcho Henrenroku" (1644). After Razan's death, Gaho created a sequel to the latter, "Honcho Tsugan."

[Kazura Ishida June 20, 2016]

"Razan Sensei's Poems and Writings Collection, 4 volumes (1920-1921), edited and published by the Kyoto Historical Records Society" ▽ "Japanese Philosophy Series 28, Fujiwara Eikō, Hayashi Razan" (edited by Kazuyoshi Ishida and Osamu Kanaya) (1975, Iwanami Shoten) ▽ “Hayashi Razan” by Isao Hori (1964/new edition, 1990, Yoshikawa Kobunkan)”

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸前期の儒者。名は信勝。字(あざな)は子信(ししん)。剃髪(ていはつ)して道春(どうしゅん)と称す。羅山は号。天正(てんしょう)11年8月に京都に生まれる。1595年（文禄4）に臨済(りんざい)宗の建仁寺(けんにんじ)に入って、儒学と仏教を学んだが、1597年（慶長2）に家に帰ってのちはもっぱら儒書を読み、朱子の章句、集注(しっちゅう)（四書の注釈）を研究して宋学(そうがく)に傾倒し、仏教を排撃した。1604年より藤原惺窩(ふじわらせいか)に師事し、その推薦で1607年徳川幕府に召し抱えられ、以後、家康(いえやす)、秀忠(ひでただ)、家光(いえみつ)、家綱(いえつな)の4代将軍に仕え、侍講(じこう)として儒書や史書を講じた。またつねに将軍の傍らにあって、儀式・典礼の調査、法度(はっと)の制定や古書・古記録の採集・校訂、外交文書の起草にあたった。1630年（寛永7）将軍家光から江戸上野忍ヶ岡(しのぶがおか)に土地を与えられ、私塾・文庫と孔子廟(こうしびょう)を建て（これらはのち、神田(かんだ)の昌平坂(しょうへいざか)に移されて幕府直轄の昌平坂学問所および聖堂となった）、林家(りんけ)の家学である朱子学が幕府の正学となる基を開いた。羅山は、1657年（明暦3）のいわゆる明暦(めいれき)の大火によって神田の本邸の文庫を焼失、落胆して病臥(びょうが)し4日後の1月23日に没した。

　羅山の学問は、漢唐の旧注から陸象山(りくしょうざん)（九淵(きゅうえん)）、王陽明(おうようめい)（守仁(しゅじん)）の学に及び、諸子百家より日本の古典にわたったが、朱子学が中心であった。すなわち、羅山は藤原惺窩に従っていたころ王陽明の理気論に傾いていたが、1619年（元和5）の惺窩の死以降は朱子の理気論にたつことをはっきり宣言している。そして天（理気未分の太極(たいきょく)）を人事・自然のいっさいの事物のうちに内在化し、しかも天は気によっていっさいを創造し、理によっていっさいを主宰するものと考え、この天の働き（天道）を賛(たす)けることを人道と断じ、この人道の履践(りせん)が「格物」に始まることを主張した（『春鑑抄(しゅんかんしょう)』（1629）『三徳抄』『性理字義諺解(げんかい)』および『林羅山先生詩集・文集』などの著がある）。羅山はこの朱子学の立場から神道(しんとう)を解釈して「理当心地神道」をたて、近世の儒学神道の先駆けをなした（『神道伝授』（1644〜1647）『本朝神社考』（1638〜1645成立）『神道秘伝折中俗解』などの著がある）。

　家康が羅山を召し抱えたのは、羅山の信奉した朱子学を理解し、それが新しい封建制度を持することを認めたからではなく、主として羅山の学殖を政治の実際に役だてようとしたからであろうが、しかし朱子学の思想と徳川封建政治の理念との間に内面的関係が存在し、この関係が羅山の子孫をして代々大学頭(だいがくのかみ)として幕府の文教をつかさどらせ、朱子学をして幕藩体制を支持する官学たらしめたゆえんと考えられる。

　羅山には4人の男子があり、長男、二男は夭死(ようし)した。三男春勝(はるかつ)は鵞峰(がほう)と号し、1618年に、四男守勝(もりかつ)（1625―1661）は読耕斎(とくこうさい)と号し、1625年に、いずれも京都で生まれた。鵞峰は父の後を継いで幕府に仕えて大学頭となり、読耕斎もまた幕府に召し抱えられた。羅山の在世中、この2子は父を助けて歴史書の編集に従い、『寛永(かんえい)諸家系図伝』や『本朝編年録』（1644）などをつくった。羅山の死後に鵞峰は後者を続編して『本朝通鑑(つがん)』をつくる。

［石田一良　2016年6月20日］

『京都史籍会編・刊『羅山先生詩集・文集』全4巻（1920～1921）』▽『石田一良・金谷治編『日本思想大系 28　藤原惺窩・林羅山』（1975・岩波書店）』▽『堀勇雄著『林羅山』（1964／新装版・1990・吉川弘文館）』

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