Study On Evolution Of Mercantilism Thought Of Japanese Culai School

Starting from Ogyu Sorai,the mercantilism thought of Sorai school’s state-governing study,which takes managing the world and helping the people as its own responsibility,had begun to sprout,and gradually formed its shape after the development by two philosophers Dazai Shundai and Kaiho Seiryo.The mercantilism carried out a series of economic reforms according to the current social situation of Japan at that time,which increased the primitive accumulation of economy for Japan.The economic and social studies of Sorai school’s state-governing study contributed to the emergence of Japanese capitalism.Centering on the mercantilism of the three philosophers,this paper discusses the development process of mercantilism of Sorai school from the aspects of “rationalism”,human relationship theory and various economic reform policies.Therefore,the purpose of this paper is to sort out and discuss the development process of the mercantilism thought of Sorai school’s state-governing study,and gain valuable experience from its mercantilism thought.The second chapter in the main body of this paper is mainly about Ogyu Sorai’s first awakening of mercantilism.Since his father was exiled when he was young,in the process of being exiled with his father,he realized that the real needs of the people were not metaphysics,but to solve the problem of food and clothing.Therefore,his focus was on the physical “things”,which determined the natural and objective part in his thoughts.Sorai also negated the theory of human nature and put forward the theory of human feelings,which refers to the separation of human nature and the unchanged temperament.He affirmed private and interest,laying the foundation for the mercantilism of the later generation.The main content in the third chapter is Dazai Shundai’s inheritance and development of Ogyu Sorai’s mercantile thought.He inherited Sorai’s thought of human feelings theory,and formed the theory of human relationship based on truth,sincerity and non-falsity.He also inherited the natural and objective part of Sorai’s thought,denied “Neo-Confucianism” while put forward his own “physics” thought to construct his own rationalism.Also,Dazai Shundai further affirmed the function of private interests,actively carried out economic system reform,vigorously promoted the bakuhan-camp economy,and actively explored to make the country rich and its military force efficient.The main content of the fourth chapter is Kaiho Seiryo’s overall development of the previous mercantilism thought.He clearly put forward the theory that human feelings were benefit for the interest,inherited Dazai Shundai’s rationalism and carried it out in a comprehensive way.He actively searched for the theory of the combination of rationalism and benefit,providing a theoretical basis for economic activities.Moreover,he also further advocated the bakuhan-camp economy,put forward the theory that buying and selling things is the principle of the world,and realized the fact that Japan’s domestic resources are scarce,and the focus of the economy should be overseas.The development of Sorai school’s state-governing study has been lasting for a century and a half from Ogyu Sorai came to Kaiho Seiryo.They emphasized the importance of “private interest” with a new concept and leveled it with morality.They looked directly at the rapid development of commodity economy,and carried out deep thinking of combining “interest” with “rationalism”,and affirmed the rationality of“interest”.There are some “potential modernizations” existing in the mercantilism thought of Sorai school’s state-governing study.They think that commerce can also provide a steady stream of wealth for society like agriculture,so he strongly advocated the development of commerce,which promoted the development of commodity economy.