On The Ideological Relevance Between Yoshida Shōin And Yamaga Sokō

As a descendant of Yamaga style,Yoshida Shōin inherited and developed the idea of Yamaga Sokō,especially his theory of national polity,his theory of morality of samurai and the foreign-perception.This paper is divided into three chapters.It compares the similarities and differences between Yoshida Shōin and Yamaga Sokō’s thoughts from the above three aspects,and analyzes the relationship between these three thoughts and Yoshida Shōin ’s actions.The first chapter mainly analyzes the relationship between Yoshida Shōin’s theory of national polity and Yamaga Sokō.The author believes that although Shōin’s theory of national body does not lack the elements of Mitogaku,Kokugaku,and foreign studies,he built the superiority of Japanese nationality from the reign of Emperor,Shinto,and military power,similar with Yamaga Sokō’s Japancentrism.The exclusion policy proposed by Shōin based on the understanding of the Japanese national polity is not only a strategy to save the country from the crisis inside and outside Japan,but also a continuation of Japancentrism since Yamaga Sokō.The second chapter analyzes the similarities and differences between the samurai theory of Yoshida Shōin and the samurai theory of Yamaga Sokō.This article argues that Yoshida’s Bushido theory is basically consistent with that of Yamaga Sokō,especially in the point that the Shokubunron(theory of duty)is the core of their theory,the two people’s thoughts show a very high similarity.The difference is that when the Tokugawa shogunate government was established,the functions that the samurai class should have were perfectly realized.The theory of the work of Yamaga Sokō just proved the legitimacy of the shogunate government and the samurai class.However,two hundred years later,under the subjective and objective conditions of Japan at the end of the shogunate,the shogunate government was unable to perform the duties prescribed by the shogunate.In this case,Shōin still examined the shogunate with the standard two hundred years ago.Yoshida Shōin was disappointed with the shogunate,which will lead to the idea of overthrowing the Shogunate.The third chapter mainly analyzes the relationship between the foreign-perception of Yoshida Shōin and that of Yamaga Sokō.The author believes that Yamaga Sokō was originally in the position of Confucianism when thinking about the relationship between Japan and foreign countries.With the formation of his Japancentrism,the national polity of Japan began to affirm the legitimacy of Japan’s conquest of Korea.Yoshida Shōin directly inherited the foreign-perception of Yamaga Sokō after the Chucho Jijitsu,and backed up the concept of Asian aggression by reviewing the deeds of Emperor Jingong and Toyotomi Hideyoshi,which is in line with the thoughts of Yamaga Sokō.Yoshida Shōin inherited and developed the idea of Yamaga Sokō,and formed his own unique view of national polity,the morality of samurai and the foreign-perception.At the same time,these three ideas interact and promote each other.In the end,under the catalysis of the external threats faced by Japan at the end of the Edo period,the three formed an organic combination,which formed Yoshida Shōin’s thought of overthrowing the Shogunate.