61 山鹿素行
（前略）
山鹿素行が罪せられて赤穂へ流されたのは、その四十五歳の時でした。そしてそれよ
り十年間、赤穂から動く事は許されなかったのですから、その十年の間に、素行の考え
は、大きく変わってきました。どう変わったかと云いますと、「日本」に目ざめたので
す。最初は林羅山と同じく宋学を学んでいたのが、聖教要録では一転して之を否定し、
空理空論をしりぞけて、道徳の実践と、業務の実習とを主張し、朱子どころでは無く、
孟子も範とすべきでは無く、必ず孔子以前に遡って学ばねばならぬと説いたのでした。
即ち第一期は宋学、第二期は古学と云ってよいでしょう。然しいずれにせよ、その思想
は支那を中心とし、支那古代の教えを本としているもので、あくまでも支那を尊び、こ
こに道の本源があると信じていたのでした。それが赤穂へ流されている間に、大きく変
わってきた事を、本人自身、配所残筆の中で、率直に告白していますので、ここに現代
文に書き直して掲げましょう。
私は以前から支那の書物が好きで、日夜つとめて読みましたので、近年新たに舶来し
た書物は知りませんが、十年前までに渡って来た書物は、大抵残らず見ています。その
為、しらずしらず支那を尊ぶようになり、日本は小国ですから、何事も支那には及ばな
い、聖人も支那にこそ出るので、日本には出ないのだと思っていました。こりは私ばか
りではありません。古今の学者、皆かように考えて、支那を慕い、支那を模倣してきた
のでした。近頃になりまして、始めてこの考えは誤っていると気がつきました。「耳を
信じて目を信ぜず、近きを棄てて遠きを取る」事、まことに学者の通弊であります。よ
く考えてみれば、日本こそ最もすぐれた国であります。第一に、天照大神の御子孫が、
神代以来連綿として君臨し給い、乱臣賊子が現れず、革命をみない事、これは即ち仁の
徳であります。第二に、皇国の上代、聖徳の天皇相ついで道を立て制度を定め給うたの
で、礼法は明らかであり、四民は安らかである事、これ即ち智の徳でしょう。第三に、
武威盛んであって、進んで外国を伐った事はあるが、外敵の侵入をみた例は無い事、こ
れ即ち勇の徳でしょう。智仁勇の三徳を併せ有つ事が聖人の道でありますが、今一々実
績についてしらべてみると、我が国の方が、遥かに外国よりはすぐれているので、我が
国こそまさしく中国とか、中朝（ちゅうちょう）とか云うべきであります。
かような考えは、素行が寛文八年に書いたものに既に見えていますが、それが結晶し
て、寛文九年に中朝事実二冊となって現れました。（以下略）
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61 Yamaga Sokou
(an omission)
At the time he was sent to be under the care of the Asano, (Yamaga) Sokou was
forty-four. For the next ten years, he was forbidden to leave Akou. In that
decade, his way of thinking changed dramatically. If one asks "how did it
change ?" - his eyes opened to Japan. Originally, like (Hayashi) Razan, he had
studied Sung thought, but the publication of Essentials of the Sacred Teachings
(Seikyou Youroku) was an aboutface, a denial of that tradition and a rejection
of abstract and impractical theory. He had advocated the practice of morality,
the exercise of duty, where there was no Neo-Confucianism and Mencius was not
needed to give any examples. He had preached that one had but to go back to study the
begining where there was only Confucius. In other words, his first phase had
been Sung teaching; his second had been the ancient writings. Whichever step it
had been, the ideology had China at the heart of it. As something concentrating on ancient
China, it therefore ultimately exalted China and believed it was the source of
the Way. He confessed frankly the reasons he changed his mind over those ten
years in Akou in his Last Testament in Exile (Haisho Zanpitsu).
"From the beginning I liked Chinese writings. I don't know about books that
might have been imported from abroad in recent years, but because I would read
night and day, there are few that had come to Japan over ten years ago that
I have not read. Because of this, I had come to revere a China that I totally
do not know. I believed that, since Japan is a small country, there is nothing
it could do approaching China, so it naturally had to be in China where the
sages appeared, and that he would not have done so in Japan. This is not just
me. Scholars present and past have all thought this way. We adored Cjina, we
imitated China. Recently, I have come to realize that this thinking is in
error. 'Believe your ears, don't believe your eyes; abandon the near, embrace
the distant' is truly a probrem common among scholars. If one truly thinks on
it, it is actually Japan that is the greatest country. First, the descendents
of Amaterasu Ohmikami have ruled in a line unbroken from the days of the gods.
Also, there have been no traitorous servitors of the throne, nor has there been
any revolution. This is the virtue of 'benevolence.' Second, from time
immemorial in our empire, virtuous emperors have ruled according to the Way in
succession one after the other. Decorum is evident, and the four states of
people (i.e., warriors, farmers, craftsmen, and merchants) are calm. This is
the virtue of 'wisdom.' Third, martial prowess grows, and we have made
incursions abroad but there are no instances where a foreign enemy has ever
invaded. This is the virtue of 'bravery.'
Possessing together the three virtues of wisdom, benevolence, and bravery is
the Way of the sages. Investigating the achievements one by one, we find that
our country is actually superior to any far-off foreign land. Therefore, it is
in fact our country which should by rights by called the Central Kingdom (or
the Central Realm), not China."
Thia way of thinking can be seen in what Sokou had already written in the 8th
year of Kanbun (1668), but in the 9th year of Kanbun (1669) in his two-volume
True Facts of the Central Realm (Chuuchou Jijitsu), he made it clear as
crystal. (Rest omitted)
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少年日本史 (平泉澄)
The story of Japan （Hiraizumi Kiyoshi)
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