Okajima Kanzan

A Confucian scholar in the mid-Edo period. His given name was Haku, his pen name was Gyokusei, and his first characters were Enshi and Yadayu. Kanzan was his pen name. He was from Nagasaki. In 1694 (7th year of Genroku), he served as a Chinese translator for Mori Yoshinari (1668-1694) of the Hagi Domain (Hagi City, Yamaguchi Prefecture), and around 1706 (3rd year of Hoei), he moved to Edo and served Toda Tadaari (1669-1732) of the Ashikaga Domain in Shimotsuke Province (Tochigi Prefecture). Around 1708, he began to associate with Ogyu Sorai. He was once a student of the University Head Hayashi Hoko and was one of the lowest-ranking Confucian scholars in the shogunate, but was soon welcomed as a translator of Chinese texts to the Kenen school. He was said to be a very liberal person, but through Kenen's "translation society" (Chinese language seminar), he played a major role in the formation of Chinese language studies (Tang dynasty studies) in the Edo period and in the translation of vernacular (colloquial) novels. He died in the 13th year of the Kyoho era, at the age of 55.

[Akira Fujiwara April 18, 2016]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸中期の儒学者。名は璞(はく)、字(あざな)は玉成(ぎょくせい)、初字は援之(えんし)、弥大夫(やだゆう)。冠山はその号。長崎の人。1694年（元禄7）萩(はぎ)藩（山口県萩市）の毛利吉就(もうりよしなり)（1668―1694）に唐訳士として仕え、1706年（宝永3）ごろ江戸に出て下野(しもつけ)国（栃木県）足利(あしかが)藩の戸田忠囿(とだただあり)（1669―1732）に仕える。1708年ごろ荻生徂徠(おぎゅうそらい)との交際を始めた。一時大学頭(だいがくのかみ)林鳳岡(はやしほうこう)に入門し、幕府の儒員の末席に加わるが、やがて蘐園(けんえん)学派の唐訳師として迎えられる。人物きわめて放達といわれるが、蘐園の「訳社」（華語講習会）を通し江戸期における中国語学（唐話学）の形成および白話(はくわ)（口語体）小説の翻訳に果たした役割は大きい。享保(きょうほう)13年没、55歳。

［藤原　暹　2016年4月18日］

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