메이지 전기 한학(漢學)의 유효성 논의 - 나카무라 마사나오(中村正直)의 논리 -

Abstract

This article highlights how the introduction and prosperity of Western Learning affected the meaning of Chinese Learning in Meiji Japan. It focuses on the perspective of Masanao Nakamura (1832-1891), one of the greatest Confucian and Western Learning scholars of the time. After the Meiji Revolution, Western Learning education, which started at the end of the Tokugawa period, modified the traditional Chinese Learning-oriented education system from its origin. The academic mainstream quickly switched to Western Learning, and individuals had to learn it in order to succeed in society. However, this did not mean that the significance of the existence of Chinese Learning disappeared. The introduction of Western civilization was inevitably accompanied by an increased demand for translations and a skyrocketing need for Chinese characters for translations. Moreover, as the literary style of official documents changed from Soro(候) to Kanbun Kundokutai(漢文訓讀體), there was a demand for a new level of sophistication and angle on Chinese Learning education. For this reason, Nakamura held that the basics of Chinese Learning were essential to learning more than a certain level of Western Learning. Nakamura's assertion of the effectiveness of Chinese Learning fundamentally differed from the opinions of Chinese scholars from the generation after his. In this article, we will examine Nakamura’s logic of correlation between his understanding of the West and the role of Chinese Learning.