抄録
“Suido” is a word that means land and geographic. In early-modern Japan, references to “Suido” increased. Kumazawa Banzan discusses the differences between Japan, China, India, and Shinto, Confucianism, and Buddhism in his theory of “Suido”. However, if Banzan, a Confucian scholar, describes the difference between the three countries in that way, the relationship between that difference and the universality of Confucian morality must be clarified. Since previous studies have not sufficiently examined this point, this paper compares Banzan and Nishikawa Jōken’s theory of “Suido”, which criticized Banzan, in order to elucidate the relationship between “Suido” and universality.
Sections 1 and 2 dealt with Banzan’s argument and Joken’s criticism of it. Banzan argues that Buddhism, which was originally not compatible with Japan and China, which had different “Suido”, became established in both countries, based on the idea of “Kiunhisoku” in which the situation of the times gradually deteriorated. Banzan’s theory of “Suido” has the characteristic of explaining why Confucianism should be studied in Japan by making Buddhism different from Japan, out of Confucianism and Buddhism, both of which are foreign. On the other hand, Joken, who lived in Nagasaki, completely denied Banzan’s theory based on the overseas situation he saw and heard.
In Sections 3 and 4, we examined the significance of both discussions. Joken’s theory develops linear logic starting from facts and is very persuasive. On the other hand, Banzan says that Buddhism is suitable for India’s “Suido”, and he does not deny the existence value of Buddhism. Although Banzan believes in the universality of Confucian morality, he does not believe that the diversity that exists in reality should be ignored. Here, Banzan’s view of the world has a duality of individuality and universality, and Joken, who can only think linearly, could not understand this duality.
In previous research, “Suido” was often discussed from the perspective of the history of East Asian thought. However, “Suido” also has an important meaning in terms of ethics, and it seems that further research is necessary.
