(1)洋算教育の成立過程

抄録

Whatever is called "arithmetic" in our present system of school education is "yozan" (western arithmetic). This dates back to 1872, when it took the place of "wazan" (Japanese arithmetic) which is quite peculiar to our country. The present thesis is intended as a brief inquiry into the process of the pervasion of yozan in our school system. Yozan came to be known in Japan as early as the first half of 18th century, in close connection with the coming of the western knowledges of astronomy, tactics and so on. But it was mainly via China through the Chinese translations. The visit of American warships in 1853 was really an epoch-making event in the history of yozan in Japan. Yozan, which had been considered only as useful against the crisis of the domestic economy, came to be regarded as "necessary" for surmounting the diplomatic crisis. It is only then that the systematic teaching of yozan began in our country. It was launched out at the Nagasaki Naval Academy (1855-59), where yozan was regarded as the most important basic knowledge for all military sciences. In Hanko (educational institution for the military class), there had been a tendency toward neglecting arithmetic, even wazan. But as the problem of national defense became urgent after the visit of the American warships, yozan began to be taught at some Hanko. To most Terakoya (private school for the lower class), however, yozan gave no great influence worth mentioning, except a few where it was taught in compliance with the pupils' request. Though yozan had thus given quite a limited influence on our school education, it was decided in 1872 in the code entitled "Gakusei" that only yozan should be taught as "arithmetic" at every school in Japan. The aim of Gakusei was, first of all, the rapid growth of Japan into one of the advanced countries. In this sense, it seems natural that we have accepted yozan as our only "arithmetic", following other advanced countries. But it shouldn't be regarded only as a matter of imitation. The largest motive of our having accepted yozan lay in the then urgent desire for the increase of our defensive power which is eloquently expressed in the active attitude of the Nagasaki Naval Academy toward the introduction of tactics. Preference of yozan to wazan came in fact more from the need of national defense than from any academic comparison between them. In other words, the western knowledge which was indispensable in our national defense couldn't be learned efficiently without western methods of calculation and description. "The western arithmetic for learning the western knowledge" this was what made us prefer yozan to our old wazan.