Shigeyoshi Mori

His birth and death years are unknown. He was a Japanese mathematician in the early Edo period. At the end of his book written in 1622 (Genwa 8), it is written, "A resident of Kawarabayashi, Muko County, Settsu Province, currently living in Kyoto, he is known as the best in division calculations in the world," so all we know is his place of birth and current address. Kawarabayashi is near the current Koshien Stadium, and a monument to Shigenobu was erected here a few years ago, and Sanso Shrine was also built in the grounds of the same Kumano Shrine. In "Araki Sensei Chadan" by Araki Sonei, a disciple of Seki Takakazu, it is written, "The ancient mathematician Mori Kanbei Shigenobu served the Toyotomi clan and was in Osaka Castle, but after the castle fell, he went to Edo and became a ronin." Mori Shigeyoshi had three disciples, Imamura Tomoaki, Yoshida Mitsuyoshi, and Takahara Yoshitane, and Takahara's disciple was Seki Takakazu, and Seki's disciple was Araki Murahide, so what Murahide says is probably credible. It is also possible that he went to Kyoto after becoming a ronin in Edo.

This is probably the extent of the reliable biography of Mori Shigeyoshi, but in later generations the biography expanded rapidly, and the theory that he traveled to China emerged, as well as that he was appointed as Dewa no Kami.

[Shinichi Oya]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

生没年不詳。江戸初期の和算家。1622年（元和8）の著書の巻末に「摂津(せっつ)国武庫(むこ)郡瓦林(かわらばやし)の住人、今京都に住む、割算の天下一と号する者なり」とあるので、出生の地と現住所がわかるだけである。瓦林はいまの甲子園の近くで、先年この地に重能の記念碑がつくられ、同じ熊野神社の境内に算祖神社も建てられた。関孝和(せきたかかず)の弟子荒木村英(そんえい)の『荒木先生茶談』のなかに「古来の算師毛利勘兵衛(かんべえ)重能は豊臣(とよとみ)氏に仕え、大坂城中にあったが、落城ののち、江戸に出て浪人となった」とある。毛利重能の弟子には今村知商(ともあき)、吉田光由(みつよし)、高原吉種(よしたね)の3人があり、高原の弟子は関孝和、関の弟子が荒木村英であるから、村英のいうところはまず信用できるであろう。江戸で浪人したのち、京都へ行ったとも考えられる。

　このへんまでが毛利重能の伝記で信頼すべきところであろうが、後世になると伝記はどんどん拡大していき、渡明(とみん)説が現れ、出羽守(でわのかみ)に任ぜられたという説も生じた。

［大矢真一］

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