不「盡信書」之儒者──中井履軒的經書觀

Confucian that does not necessarily believe in all classical writing: Perspective of Riken Nankai on classical writing

日本江戶時代的代表儒者中井履軒，其對《孟子》的解釋，往往有出乎傳統儒者意表的見解。傳統的儒者認為亞聖孟子的言論，全都是萬古不變的金科玉律，對此，中井履軒表示否定的態度。此外，履軒完全否定了在經學世界中不得不有條件認定存在的鬼神之類，對於『毛詩』、『尚書』的內容也有取捨選擇，達到超越儒者侷限的學問境地。從中井履軒身上，可看到江戶中期的日本，不盲目信仰經書中的內容，而是依據個人思想適當取捨經書意涵。擺脫前人的束縛，自由開展個人學問的姿態，讓人感受到近代來臨的腳步聲。

There are aspects of interpretation on “Mencius” by Riken Nakai, who was the representative Confucian of the Edo Era in Japan, that would be difficult to conceive as a traditional Confucian. Proper Confucians are expected to accept all remarks made by the sage of the second order, Mencius, as axioms of immutable laws. Yet Riken evaluated the chapter on “all classical writings” as the “means” of Mencius. Riken also completely rejected the idea that in the world of Confucianism the presence of evil must be acknowledged, even though in a limited sense. He was also selective with the contents of the “Book of Odes” and the “Shangshu”, which set his scholarship as a Confucian apart from the rest. It is evident from Riken Nakai that in Japan of the mid Edo Era there was this practice of selecting classical writings as appropriate according to the individual ideology, rather than blindly believing everything in classical writing as given, as an object of worship. The stance of advancing their scholarship that is free, being released from the given restraints, was what turned out to be a faint sign of approaching modern era.