Fujiwara Seika
Fujiwara Seika (Japanese藤原 惺 窝; * 1561 in the village of Hosokawa (细 川) in the province of Harima (now Miki, Hyōgo Prefecture ), † 1619) was instrumental as a philosopher of the late Momoyama and early Edo era influence in the formation of the becoming the dominant state doctrine Japanese expression of Neo-Confucianism.
Journey
Fujiwara Seika, with birth name Susumu, in the 13th generation was a descendant of Fujiwara no Teika. His father and brother both fell in 1578 in the service of Bessho Nagahara.
With seven or eight years, he was placed in the care of Keiun -ji ( Harima ). Later he studied the Buddhist doctrine in Shokoku -ji (相 国寺) in Kyoto. To 1588 he decided to to China to travel in order to find a teacher. Since this trip had to be done secretly, he was forced into Yamagawa ( Satsuma ) some time to wait for an opportunity for the crossing.
During this waiting period, he discovered a complete set of the works of Chinese Confucian philosopher of the Song Dynasty, Cheng Hao ( 1032-85; jap teiko ) and Zhu Xi ( 1130-1200 ). These books made such a strong impression on him that he gave up his plan to travel to China and in 1590 took off the robe. He especially disliked the monopoly that the Zen Buddhists had at that time to the dissemination of philosophical doctrines.
As a result, he established himself as founder of its own neo- Confucian teaching direction, the Teishu gaku ha He tried Shinto harmoniously connect with Confucian, but also Buddhist elements. His lectures were attended by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who after 1591 became his most important patrons. 1593-94 he lived in Edo, where his teachings and Tokugawa Ieyasu impressed and it was offered to him to enter his service. Seika rejected this offer as well as an equal Toyotomi from and built instead a private school in a village near Kyoto. He used the pseudonym Rembu (敛 夫) for his writings.
His most famous student, who later ausformten his teaching to the dominant state doctrine of the early Tokugawa period, were Hayashi Razan, Hori Kyōan and Ishikawa Jozan.
Swell
- Berend Wispelwey (ed.): Japanese Biographical Archive. K.G. Saur, Munich 2007, ISBN 3-598-34014-1, Fiche 45