was a leading academic in the Kaitokudō academy tradition of scholarship. He was the first son of Nakai Shuan (d. 1758), one of the Kaitokudō's two founders, and was influenced by his teacher and mentor Goi Ranju (五井蘭洲:1697-1762). He became the administrative head of the Kaitokudō in 1797 during the

Tokugawa period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. An extrovert known for his bureaucratic skills and his firm precise

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

, Chikuzan was vastly different in demeanour to his brother Nakai Riken, although their underlying epistemologies, beliefs and degree of tenacious individualism were similar. They both focused on the

epistemological Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowled ...

study of virtue in the merchant class of Tokugawa Japan, furthering the work of Goi Ranju and consolidating previous thought around the Kaitokudō school. Together, through their scholarly works they would bring a level of prestige to the Kaitokudō with their study of virtue. Ultimately they wanted to reconcile merchants and contemporary views of merchants in Tokugawa society.

Life and Philosophy

The first son of Nakai Shuan, one of the two main founders of the Kaitokudo, he was just as adept in the external bureaucratic maneuvering of administration as his father. He attended the Kaitokudo from a young age, where his interests in the epistemological study of virtue were cultivated by the scholar Goi Ranju. Both felt that education should be their primary concern rather than working on the side to supplement their income, something symptomatic of many ''Jusha'' who preferred to operate pharmacies on the side. This earned them scorn from many of the

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

merchants who contributed to the school's cost of operation. Both he and his brother Rikan took care of the elderly Goi in his later years, something for which both are remembered. While he was of superior intellectual capabilities compared to the successor his father supported in the academy, Miyake Shunro, his father subtly made a position of leadership for his son. Shuan left a fund of twenty ''kan'' to insure against emergencies to be managed by Chikuzan. In this way Shunro would be responsible for formal activities and Chikuzan would be in charge of financial activities "to assure the immortality of the academy-''Eitai sōzoku no yō''". (Najita 151–152). Chikuzan whole-heartedly denounced Ogyū Sorai and contended that all people have potential, even commoners could become scholars, while he also denounced religion and superstition.

Works

*''Hi-Cho'' – an emotional work written to denounce Ogyū Sorai and his

historicism Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying the process or history by which they came about. The term is widely used in philosophy, ant ...

. Said that Sorai simplified things too much and mistranslated the ancient works

Mencius Mencius (孟子, ''Mèngzǐ'', ; ) was a Chinese Confucian philosopher, often described as the Second Sage () to reflect his traditional esteem relative to Confucius himself. He was part of Confucius's fourth generation of disciples, inheriting ...

Analects The ''Analects'', also known as the ''Sayings of Confucius'', is an ancient Chinese philosophical text composed of sayings and ideas attributed to Confucius and his contemporaries, traditionally believed to have been compiled by his followers. ...

, etc. Was accused of attacking the person Sorai rather than the person's arguments in this work. *''Isshi'' 1797 – a laudatory history that underwent many drafts during the Tokugawa

Bakufu , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...

. This body of work upset his brother due to the work's apologetic bias. This bias also earned him the respect and affection of the

. A work that reflects his own form of ''realpolitik''. This was a way for him to gain assurance from the Bakufu to continue running the Kaitokudo but corrupted his academic integrity. *''Sobo kigen''

Legacy

References

* Najita, Tetsuo. ''Visions of Virtue in Tokugawa Japan. The Kaitokudo, Merchant Academy of Osaka''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987 {{DEFAULTSORT:Nakai, Chikuzan Japanese academics 1730 births 1804 deaths Writers of the Edo period Japanese atheists 18th-century Japanese philosophers 19th-century Japanese philosophers