Miura Baien and 18th Century Japanese Intellectual History: The Acceptance of Western Knowledge and the Theory of Yin-Yang and Wuxing

Abstract

Abstract This paper will focus on Miura Baien (1723–1789) to have a glimpse of how Edo intellectuals viewed Western and traditional Chinese knowledge, and how they thought about the world and nature in the middle of Tokugawa period. Miura is a thinker who has created an exquisite system that is almost unmatched by others in Japanese intellectual history. Maeno was a Japanese physician and pioneer of Dutch learning. Both of them deny the view of nature and the body based on the theory of Yin-Yang and Wuxing, and accepted the intellectual shock brought about by Dutch learning. Therefore, I will use the views of these two Edo scholars to discuss the criticism and application of the theory of Yin-Yang and Wuxing in Edo Japan, and their understanding of Western knowledge. Furthermore, I will also compare Miura Baien with Dai Zhen (1724–1777), a Chinese thinker who was born around the same period, to argue that Western learning in Qing China, and the theory of Yin-Yang and Wuxing were how to be used. By doing so, this paper would like to illustrate the unique thoughts of Miura Baien and characteristics of 18th century Japanese intellectual history.