From Transculturation to Culture-Specific Ethics: The Implementation of Confucian Ritual Forms in 19th Century Japan

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The overall topic of this research is the use of material Confucian symbols in the official schools of early modern Japan. The Bakufu took direct control of the Shoheizaka Gakumonjo school at the Yushima site in the late Edo period, inspiring domain schools to continue the established temple-school complex form, including the Sekiten sacrifices to Confucius and other related rites, but these symbolic expressions underwent change as Bakufu demands on education and contact with the outside world led to substantial changes in educational goals. The current research project examines the changing role of education in this period through research on the visible cultural displays such as temples and rituals.In the fourth year of this research project, the main activity has remained the collection and analysis of primary source materials from domain schools that shed light on the Confucius temples, Sekiten rituals, and their role in the education system. Questions addressed include the motivations for maintaining the traditional design of the temple-school structure, the educational aims of the schools, ideas on inculcating talent and morality, and the social backgrounds of the students at the schools. The central question is why so much effort and resources were devoted to maintaining the various visible trappings of the school-temple system at a time when the older Confucian-based educational content was on the decline. The results from this work is being actively disseminated through academic conference presentations and publications.