Kinsei Bungei

The Establishment of Kashihonya Kumiai (Book-lender Guilds) in Edo and Osaka

Ryūsei Matsunaga

2023 Volume 118 Pages 1-13
Published: 2023
Released on J-STAGE: January 31, 2024

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20815/kinseibungei.118.0_1

JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

Show abstractHide abstract

This paper sheds light on the history of, and also the background on which, kashihonya kumiai (book-lender guilds) were established in Edo and Osaka, an area that has not been investigated in detail to date. The first section observes the issue of direct trade that were long carried out between Edo seri-honya (ambulant book-lenders) and book-sellers in Kamigata without the mediation of individuals of the shomotsu donya nakama (book guild), and confirms that in the background of direct trade was the danger of introducing prohibited books, and books unapproved among guild members. The second section reveals how the Edo book-lender guild was established primarily in order to avoid issues arising, before they happened, from the introduction and distribution of books related to the Invasion of Iturup, despite a background of direct trade between Edo seri-honya and book-sellers in Kamigata. The third section reveals that a “number of book-lenders” submitted a written statement which led to progress towards the control of seri-honya in Osaka. And the fourth section indicates the possibility that the small association begun by that “number of book-lenders” was either the parent, or the predecessor, of the later book-lender guild of Osaka.

View full abstract

Download PDF (1297K)
The Creation of Fukenroku by Rai Shunsui:

Expression and Literary Assertion in Late Tokugawa-period Kanbun Travelogues

Mayu Asai

2023 Volume 118 Pages 15-27
Published: 2023
Released on J-STAGE: January 31, 2024

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20815/kinseibungei.118.0_15

JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

Show abstractHide abstract

Fukenroku is a travelogue written in Sino-Japanese by the late Tokugawa-period Confucianist, Rai Shunsui about his experiences when traveling in eastern Japan in Meiwa 7 (1770).
In Fukenroku, Shunsui aimed to distance himself from the writing style of Sorai-school travelogues, and to describe the customs and scenes of his travel destinations in detail. The models used for that were Ru shu ji by Lu You, and Wu chuan lu by Fan Cheng da.
Shunsui’s learning reached various levels, from writing manner to detailed expression, yet symbolic is his ingestion of vocabulary from Chinese travel records. In the manuscripts of Fukenroku written by Shunsui in the Shunpūkan collection, there are excerpts that can be identified from the Chinese travel records that he used as reference when writing. They also include excerpts from works of the Eight Masters of the Tang and Song, and the Ming-dynasty Ancient Phraseology School, however there are overwhelmingly more from Ru shu ji and Wu chuan lu, suggesting that Shunsui collected vocabulary mainly from Southern Song travel records, applying them to the Japanese landscape as he composed.
In its ability to specifically indicate movements against the Sorai School, Fukenroku has a great significance in the history of Kanbun studies.

View full abstract

Download PDF (1358K)
[title in Japanese]

[in Japanese], [in Japanese], [in Japanese], [in Japanese], [in Japane ...

2023 Volume 118 Pages 29-45
Published: 2023
Released on J-STAGE: January 31, 2024

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20815/kinseibungei.118.0_29

JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

Download PDF (1306K)
[title in Japanese]

[in Japanese]

2023 Volume 118 Pages 47-54
Published: 2023
Released on J-STAGE: January 31, 2024

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20815/kinseibungei.118.0_47

JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

Download PDF (1227K)
[title in Japanese]

[in Japanese], [in Japanese], [in Japanese], [in Japanese]

2023 Volume 118 Pages 55-71
Published: 2023
Released on J-STAGE: January 31, 2024

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20815/kinseibungei.118.0_55

JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

Download PDF (1192K)

Register with J-STAGE for free!