水足博泉『太平策』にみる先哲認識の考察

Abstract

In book twelve of Taiheisaku, Mizutrai Hakusen heavily quotes the writings of Ancient sages such as Confucius, Laozi, Mencius, Zenzi, Zhu Xi, Zhuangzi, Zilu, and others. He uses these quotes quite effectively to justify and advance his scholarly arguments. What is notable with his quote choices is the dominant presence of Confucius, who tops everyone else in terms of frequency amounting to 240 times. Hakusen's deep respect to the authority of Confucius is clearly shown not only in the number of citations, but also in his unwavering agreement with Confucius, which is markedly different from his critical reception of other sages. In other words, Hakusen's attitudes towards ancient sages in the book are divided: Hakusen is always respectful and honor the authority of Confucius, whereas he is often judgmental of others. In the cases where Laozi or Mencius shows some disagreements with Confucius or his ideas, Hakusen always takes side with Confucius and defends him. In this sense, Hakusen is quite engrossed into Confucianism. He praises the great contributions of Confucianism to the different aspects of human society and believes that the rise and fall of a nation depends on whether the monarchs are willing to follow the teachings of Confucianism or not. Therefore he emphasizes a necessity of accepting Confucianism on a national scale and building the national ideology based on it. It is in this context he stresses that Shishuyile contains the core elements of Confucianism, and that denying the importance of the book is nothing other than refusal of confucianism.