Yushima Seido
Encyclopedia
Bunkyo, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. Situated in the middle of the ward area, Bunkyō is a residential and educational center. Beginning in the Meiji period, literati like Natsume Sōseki, as well as scholars and politicians have lived there...
, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, 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...
, was constructed as a Confucian temple in the Genroku
Genroku
was a after Jōkyō and before Hōei. This period spanned the years from September 1688 through March 1704. The reigning emperor was .The years of Genroku are generally considered to be the Golden Age of the Edo Period. The previous hundred years of peace and seclusion in Japan had created relative...
era of the Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
(end of the 17th century).
Tokugawa bureaucrat training center
Hayashi Razan
, also known as Hayashi Dōshun, was a Japanese Neo-Confucian philosopher, serving as a tutor and an advisor to the first four shoguns of the Tokugawa bakufu. He is also attributed with first listing the Three Views of Japan. Razan was the founder of the Hayashi clan of Confucian scholars.Razan was...
(1583-1657) in his grounds at Shinobi-ga-oka (now in Ueno Park
Ueno Park
is a spacious public park located in the Ueno section of Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. It occupies the site of the former Kan'ei-ji, a temple closely associated with the Tokugawa shoguns, who had built the temple to guard Edo Castle against the north-east, then considered an unlucky direction...
). The fifth 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...
shogun
Shogun
A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...
, Tsunayoshi, moved the building to its present site in 1690, where it became the Taiseiden (大成殿) of Yushima Seidō. The Hayashi school of Confucianism moved at the same time.
Under the Kansei Edict
Kansei Edict
The Kansei Edict of 1790 was the enforcement of the Neo-Confucianism of Zhu Xi as the official Confucian philosophy of Japan...
, which made neo-Confucianism the official philosophy of Japan, the Hayashi school was transformed into a state-run school under the control of the shogunate in 1797. The school was known as the Shōhei-zaka Gakumonsho or Shōheikō, after Confucius’s birthplace at Changping (昌平, pronounced Shōhei in Japanese). During the time of the Tokugawa shogunate, the school attracted many men of talent, but it was closed in 1871 after the Meiji Restoration
Meiji Restoration
The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...
.
Daigaku-no-kami
The title Daigaku-no-kami identifies the head of the chief educational institution of the state. It was conferred by the shogun in 1691 when the Neo-Confucian academy moved to land provided by the shogunate at Yushima. In the years which followed, this academic title became hereditary for the ten descendants who followed in succession.In the early years of the Edo period, the seidō or Confucian "Hall of Sages" was located in Shinobugaoka; but in 1691, it was moved to a new location at the top of a hill in the Yushima section of Edo. The hereditary heads of the Edo daigaku are identified below.
- Founder: Hayashi RazanHayashi Razan, also known as Hayashi Dōshun, was a Japanese Neo-Confucian philosopher, serving as a tutor and an advisor to the first four shoguns of the Tokugawa bakufu. He is also attributed with first listing the Three Views of Japan. Razan was the founder of the Hayashi clan of Confucian scholars.Razan was...
(1583-1657), formerly Hayashi Nobukatsu, also known as Dōshun (1st son of Nobutoki). - Son of founder: Hayashi GahōHayashi Gaho, also known as Hayashi Shunsai, was a Japanese Neo-Confucian scholar, teacher and administrator in the system of higher education maintained by the Tokugawa bakufu during the Edo period...
(1618-1688), formerly Hayashi Harukatsu (3rd son of Razan).
- 1st rector (and Daigaku-no-kami): Hayashi HōkōHayashi Hōkō, also known as Hayashi Nobutatsu, was a Japanese Neo-Confucian scholar, teacher and administrator in the system of higher education maintained by the Tokugawa bakufu during the Edo period...
(1644-1732), formerly Hayashi Nobuhatsu (son of Gahō).. - 2nd rector (and Daigaku-no-kami): Hayashi RyūkōHayashi Ryūkōwas a Japanese Neo-Confucian scholar, teacher and administrator in the system of higher education maintained by the Tokugawa bakufu during the Edo period. He was a member of the Hayashi clan of Confucian scholars.-Academician:...
(1681-1758). - 3rd rector (and Daigaku-no-kami): Hayashi Hōkoku (1721-1773).
- 4th rector (and Daigaku-no-kami): Hayashi Hōtan (1761-1787).
- 5th rector (and Daigaku-no-kami): Hayashi Kimpō (1767-1793), also known as Hayashi Kanjun or Hayashi Nobutaka
- 6th rector and 8th Daigaku-no-kami): Hayashi JussaiHayashi Jussaiwas a Japanese neo-Confucian scholar of the Edo period. He was an hereditary rector of Edo’s Confucian Academy, the Shōhei-kō, also known at the Yushima Seidō, which was built on land provided by the shogun...
(1768-1841), formerly Matsudaira Norihira, 3rd son of Iwamura daimyo Matsudaira Norimori -- Norihira was adopted into Hayashi family when Kimpō/Kanjun died childless; explained shogunate foreign policy to Emperor KōkakuEmperor Kokakuwas the 119th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.Kōkaku's reign spanned the years from 1780 through 1817.-Genealogy:...
in 1804., also known as Hayashi Jitsusai and Hayashi Kō. - 7th rector (and Daigaku-no-kami): Hayashi Teiu (1791-1844).
- 8th rector (and Daigaku-no-kami): Hayashi Sōkan (1828-1853).
- 9th rector (and Daigaku-no-kami): Hayashi Fukusai (1800-1859), also known as Hayashi AkiraHayashi Akirawas a Edo period scholar-diplomat serving the Tokugawa Shogunate in a variety of roles similar to those performed by serial Hayashi clan neo-Confucianists since the time of Tokugawa Ieyasu...
, chief Japanese negotiator for the Treaty of Kanagawa - 10th rector (and Daigaku-no-kami): Hayashi GakusaiHayashi Gakusai, formerly Hayashi Noboru, was a neo-Confucian scholar and a bakufu official in the late Tokugawa shogunate.-Academician:Hayashi Daigaku-no-kami Gakusai was a member of the Hayashi clan of Confucian scholars, each of whom were ad hoc personal advisers to the shoguns prominent figures in the...
(1833-1906), formerly Hayashi Noboru, head of the academy in 1867.
Institutional history after 1871
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Japan)
The , also known as MEXT or Monkashō, is one of the ministries of the Japanese government.The Meiji government created the first Ministry of Education in 1871....
, the Tokyo National Museum
Tokyo National Museum
Established 1872, the , or TNM, is the oldest and largest museum in Japan. The museum collects, houses, and preserves a comprehensive collection of art works and archaeological objects of Asia, focusing on Japan. The museum holds over 110,000 objects, which includes 87 Japanese National Treasure...
, and the forerunners of today’s Tsukuba University and Ochanomizu University
Ochanomizu University
is one of only two national women's universities in Japan. The other one is the Nara Women's University.-History:Ochanomizu University was founded in 1875 as a teacher training institute for women located in Tokyo's Ochanomizu neighborhood. On September 1, 1923, the campus was destroyed in the...
(which is now in a different location but retains 'Ochanomizu' in its name).
The site of the school is now occupied by Tokyo Medical and Dental University
Tokyo Medical and Dental University
is part of Japan's national university system. Tokyo Medical and Dental University offers baccalaureate and graduate degrees in medicine, dentistry, and related fields.- History :...
.
The colour scheme of the original Taiseiden is believed to have been one of vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion is an opaque orangish red pigment, similar to scarlet. As a naturally occurring mineral pigment, it is known as cinnabar, and was in use around the world before the Common Era began. Most naturally produced vermilion comes from cinnabar mined in China, and vermilion is nowadays commonly...
paint with verdigris
Verdigris
Verdigris is the common name for a green pigment obtained through the application of acetic acid to copper plates or the natural patina formed when copper, brass or bronze is weathered and exposed to air or seawater over a period of time. It is usually a basic copper carbonate, but near the sea...
. After being burnt down on a number of occasions, the Taiseiden was rebuilt in 1799 in the style of the Confucian temple in Mito
Mito, Ibaraki
is the capital of Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan and has a central location, moderately offset towards the coast in that prefecture. As of 2005, the city has an estimated population of 263,748 and a total area is 217.45 km², giving a population density of 1,212.91 persons per km²...
, which used black paint. This building survived through the Meiji period and was designated a national historical site in 1922, but was burnt down in the Great Kanto Earthquake of the following year. The current Taiseiden is in reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
and was designed by Itō Chūta.
Inside the compound is the world’s largest statue of Confucius, donated in 1975 by the Lions Club of Taipei
Taipei
Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...
(Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
). There are also statues of the Four Sages, Yan Hui, Zengzi
Zengzi
Zengzi , born Zeng Shen , courtesy name Ziyu , was a Chinese philosopher and student of Confucius.He is credited with having authored a large portion of the Great Learning, including its foreword. Zengzi's disciples are believed to have been among the most important compilers of the Analects of...
, Kong Ji, and 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 ...
.
In the 1970s, the Taiseiden was used as the location for scenes in NTV
Nippon Television
is a television network based in the Shiodome area of Minato, Tokyo, Japan and is controlled by the Yomiuri Shimbun publishing company. Broadcasting terrestrially across Japan, the network is commonly known as , contracted to , and abbreviated as "NTV" or "AX".-Offices:*The Headquarters : 6-1,...
’s Monkey television series.
Along with the nearby Yushima Tenmangū, the Yushima Seidō is a mecca for students praying for success in their examinations.
See also
- Zhu XiZhu XiZhū Xī or Chu Hsi was a Song Dynasty Confucian scholar who became the leading figure of the School of Principle and the most influential rationalist Neo-Confucian in China...
or Chu Hsi -- neo-Confucianist teacher
- Fujiwara SeikaFujiwara Seikawas a Japanese philosopher, a leading neo-Confucian of the early Tokugawa Period and a teacher of Tokugawa Ieyasu.Like his student, Hayashi Razan , he had studied in Zen monasteries. But in 1598, at Fushimi Castle, he met Gang Hang , a Korean neo-Confucian scholar who was taken prisoner to Japan...
-- Japanese disciple of Zhu Xi
- Hayashi clan (Confucian scholars)Hayashi clan (Confucian scholars)The ' was a Japanese samurai clan which served as important advisors to the Tokugawa shoguns. Among members of the clan to enjoy powerful positions in the shogunate was its founder Hayashi Razan, who passed on his post as hereditary rector of the neo-Confucianist Shōhei-kō school to his son,...
External linksZhu Xi
Zhū Xī or Chu Hsi was a Song Dynasty Confucian scholar who became the leading figure of the School of Principle and the most influential rationalist Neo-Confucian in China...
or Chu Hsi -- neo-Confucianist teacher
Fujiwara Seika
was a Japanese philosopher, a leading neo-Confucian of the early Tokugawa Period and a teacher of Tokugawa Ieyasu.Like his student, Hayashi Razan , he had studied in Zen monasteries. But in 1598, at Fushimi Castle, he met Gang Hang , a Korean neo-Confucian scholar who was taken prisoner to Japan...
-- Japanese disciple of Zhu Xi
Hayashi clan (Confucian scholars)
The ' was a Japanese samurai clan which served as important advisors to the Tokugawa shoguns. Among members of the clan to enjoy powerful positions in the shogunate was its founder Hayashi Razan, who passed on his post as hereditary rector of the neo-Confucianist Shōhei-kō school to his son,...