Old man dialogue - Okinamondo

This work was written by Nakae Toju, a Confucian scholar in the early Edo period. It was written between 1640 (Kan'ei 17) and the following year (1641), when Toju was 33-34 years old. It is written in the form of a dialogue between a teacher named Tenkun and a disciple named Taiju, and consists of two volumes, an upper part (main part and lower part) and a lower part (main part and lower part). It was written during Toju's "middle" period, which coincides with the time when he began to believe in the Great God Taiitsu. It discusses Confucianism, the way of the five relationships, true learning and false learning, literature and martial arts, the shido, military law, Buddhism, and Shinto, but it is particularly notable for its advocacy of Shingaku and the theory of filial piety as a universal morality. In other words, Fujiki did not approve of people simply following external standards in a formal manner, but instead believed in the moral potential within people (the heart), and taught that modeling one's heart after the heart of a sage would bring about true correct behavior and a correct way of life (the advocacy of Shingaku).He also preached the way of filial piety, which is not limited to filial piety to one's ancestors, but encompasses all morality.

[Hiroyuki Tamakake]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸初期の儒学者中江藤樹(とうじゅ)の著。1640年（寛永17）から翌41年にかけて、藤樹33～34歳のおりに書かれた。天君(てんくん)という師と躰充(たいじゅう)という門人との問答の体で記されており、上（本・末）、下（本・末）の2巻からなる。成立時期は、藤樹の「中期」に属し、藤樹が大乙(たいいつ)神信仰を始めた時期とちょうど重なる。儒道、五倫(ごりん)の道、真の学問と偽の学問、文と武、士道、軍法、仏教、神道などが論ぜられているが、なかでも心学(しんがく)の提唱と普遍道徳としての孝説が注目される。すなわち藤樹は、人が単に外的規範に形式的に従うことをよしとはせず、人の内面（心）の道徳的可能性を信頼し、人が聖人の心を模範として自らの心を正しくすることこそが、人に真の正しい行為と正しい生き方をもたらすと説き（心学の提唱）、また父祖への孝のみでなく、いっさいの道徳を包括するところの孝の道を説いた。

［玉懸博之］

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