Nakai, Chikuzan (1730-1804) was the son of Nakai Shuan (1758 d.), one of the Kaitokudo

Kaitokudō

The Kaitokudō was a style of Rangaku, located in Osaka, Japan during the Tokugawa Era. Although it opened its doors in 1724, it was founded officially in 1726 by Nakai Shūan and Ogata Kōan. This school lasted officially until 1868, although there have been revivals since...

's two founders. He became the administrative head of the Kaitokudo in 1797 during the Tokugawa era in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. An extrovert known for his bureaucratic skills and his firm precise Kanji, Chikuzan was vastly different from his brother Nakai Rikuzan. They both focused on the epistemological study of virtue in the Merchant class of Tokugawa Japan under the influence of one of the school's leaders, Goi Ranju. Together, through their scholarly works they would bring a level of prestige to the Kaitokudo

Kaitokudō

The Kaitokudō was a style of Rangaku, located in Osaka, Japan during the Tokugawa Era. Although it opened its doors in 1724, it was founded officially in 1726 by Nakai Shūan and Ogata Kōan. This school lasted officially until 1868, although there have been revivals since...

 with their study of virtue. Ultimately they wanted to reconcile Merchants and contemporary views of Merchants in Tokugawa society.

Life and Philosophy

The First son of Nakai Shuan, one of the two main founders of the Kaitokudo, he was just as adept in the external bureaucratic maneuvering of administration as his father. He attended the Kaitokudo from a young age where his interests in the epistemological study of virtue was cultivated by the scholar Goi Ranju. Both felt that education should be their primary concern rather than working on the side to supplement their income, something symptomatic of many Jusha who preferred to operate pharmacies on the side. This earned them scorn from many of the Osaka

Osaka

is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

 merchants who contributed to the school's cost of operation. Both he and his brother Rikan took care of the elderly Goi in his later years, something for which both are remembered. While he was of superior intellectual capabilities compared to the successor his father supported in the academy, Miyake Shunro, his father subtly made a position of leadership for his son. Shuan left a fund of twenty kan to insure against emergencies to be managed by Chikuzan. In this way Shunro would be responsible for formal activities and Chikuzan would be in charge of financial activities "to assure the immortality of the academy-Eitai sozuku no yo." (151-52).
Chikuzan whole-heartedly denounced Ogyū Sorai

Ogyu Sorai

, pen name Butsu Sorai, was a Japanese Confucian philosopher. He has been described as the most influential such scholar during the Tokugawa period. His primary area of study was in applying the teachings of Confucianism to government and social order...

 and contended that all people have potential, even commoners could become scholars, while he also denounced religion and superstition.

Works

• Hi-Cho - an emotional work written to denounce Ogyū Sorai
  Ogyu Sorai
  , pen name Butsu Sorai, was a Japanese Confucian philosopher. He has been described as the most influential such scholar during the Tokugawa period. His primary area of study was in applying the teachings of Confucianism to government and social order...
  
   and his historicism
  Historicism
  Historicism is a mode of thinking that assigns a central and basic significance to a specific context, such as historical period, geographical place and local culture. As such it is in contrast to individualist theories of knowledges such as empiricism and rationalism, which neglect the role of...
  
  . Said that Sorai simplified things too much and mistranslated the ancient works Mencius
  Mencius
  Mencius was a Chinese philosopher who was arguably the most famous Confucian after Confucius himself.-Life:Mencius, also known by his birth name Meng Ke or Ko, was born in the State of Zou, now forming the territory of the county-level city of Zoucheng , Shandong province, only thirty kilometres ...
  
  , Analects, etc. Was accused of attacking the person Sorai rather than the person's arguments in this work.
• Isshi 1797 - a laudatory history that underwent many drafts during the Tokugawa
  Tokugawa shogunate
  The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...
  
   Bakufu. This body of work upset his brother due to the work's apologetic bias. This bias also earned him the respect and affection of the Bakufu. A work that reflects his own form of realpolitik. This was a way for him to gain assurities from the Bakufu to continue running the Kaitokudo but corrupted his academic integrity.
• Sobo kigen