士의 誕生

Abstract

In East Asia, Shi(士) is very unique and important. The main reason of being unique is that there was no similar class like Shi(士) in other cultures at the same period. Thus, it was only found in East Asia. The reason of being important is that it exerted an huge role in the history of East Asia as a subject of ideology and culture in the pre-modern period of East Asia. Then, how Shi(士) was born and established? The present study is to examine the background thought of Shi(士), and its significance. In the ancient China (i.e., the period of Sang(商代)), shaman(巫) ruled via the ability of communication with spirits(通神) and occupied knowledge simultaneously. The most important features of Shi(士) were ruling and knowledge. The only difference is that Shi(士) rules and obtains knowledge via the mental labor(勞心). In order to establish Shi(士), two things are necessary. First, it was the birth of mental laborer(勞心者). Second, it was the establishment of exchange of output between mental labor and manual labor(心力通功). It was because Shi(士) could not be born without mental labor, and Shi(士) could not be survived without the exchange of output between mental labor and manual labor. The ideological background of Shi(士) was ‘mental labor’ and ‘exchange of output between mental labor and manual labor’, and its meaning was changed that ‘ruling’ and ‘knowledge’ were changed by means of ‘mental labor’ instead of the communication with spirits.