64 本居宣長
江戸時代においては、国文学、国語学もまた盛んに開拓せられました。その方面に功
績のあった人多い中に、先ず北村季吟から始めましょう。季吟は近江の人、寛永年間（
西暦一六二四年）に生まれました。山崎闇斎よりは六年おくれ、山鹿素行よりは二年お
そく生まれたわけです。この人の一生は、国文学の古典の注釈に捧げられました。有名
なものは、源氏物語湖月抄、枕草子春曙抄、徒然草文段抄等ですが、その外、大和物語
、和漢朗詠集、土佐日記、伊勢物語、百人一首、八代集などの注釈を作り、古典講読の
道を拓いた功績は大きいものがありました。その研究と著述の為に、生活は苦しかった
ようですが、六十六歳の時より幕府の保護をうけて幸福な晩年を送り、宝永二年に八十
二歳で亡くなりました。
季吟より遅れて寛永十七年に生まれ、季吟より先に元禄十四年に六十二歳で没したの
は、円珠庵の阿闍梨契沖です。契沖は本姓は下川氏、元は加藤清正に仕えて一万石を領
した名家でしたが、加藤家亡びて後、契沖の父は尼ケ崎の城主青山氏に仕えて二百五十
石を貰っていたと云います。即ち相当な武家に生まれたのですが、早くから真言宗の寺
へ入って僧侶としての修業をし、一時は自殺しようとした程に煩悶しましたが、深山幽
谷を跋渉して心身を鍛え、やがて和泉の久井に籠もって、仏典と漢籍との研究に耽り、
三十九歳の時に、大阪今里の妙法寺の住職となり、水戸家の依頼によって万葉集の注釈
を書きましたが、晩年は大阪高津の円珠庵に住して著述につとめ、やがて元禄十四年正
月、六十二歳で亡くなりました。
契沖の著述の中で代表的なものは、万葉代匠記で、これは水戸の徳川光圀の依頼を受
け、万葉集を注釈したもので、非常に重要な書物です。ところで契沖は、万葉集を解釈
する為に、古事記や日本書紀、延喜式や古今集などの古い書物をしらべているうちに、
頗る重大な発見をしました。それは、古い時代には仮名のつかい方に規則がきまってい
、「い」と「ゐ」、「え」と「ゑ」、「お」と「を」との間には、混雑流用を許さない
区別があって、それが国語の正しい形であり、美しい姿であったのに、中世よりは世の
中乱れ、学問衰えると共に、規則を忘れて混雑を招いた、と云う事に気がついたのです
。そしてこの規則を取り戻して、国語を美しく正しい姿に戻さねばならぬとして、和字
正濫鈔を作りました。それは元禄六年の事で、古今集の出来た延喜五年よりおよそ八百
年の後に当たります。その八百年ばかりの間、乱れに乱れていた国語を、元の形に整理
したのが契沖で、その点日本文化の為に大恩人と云わねばなりません。
契沖のこの説に対して、わざわざ八巻の書物を作って反駁し、古代に仮名の用法が一
定していたと云うのは事実無根で、法則などは無かったのだ、と主張した人がありまし
た。それをみて契沖はひどく腹を立て、すぐに筆を執って反駁の書物五巻を作り、痛烈
に之を論破し、排斥しました。古典の正しい姿、国語の美しい形、それは実に契沖によ
って見出され、教示せられたのであります。いわゆる歴史的仮名遣いは、ここに拠点を
置き、これより出発するのです。
出発すると云いましたのは、契沖の研究もまだ十分で無いところがあって、その補正
は後の学者を待たねばならなかったからです。殊に重大な点は、五十音図が数百年の乱
世の間に、「お」と「を」の位置を誤って、契沖でさえ、
あ い う え を
わ ゐ う ゑ お
としていました。それを、「を」と「お」を入れ替えて、
あ い う え お
わ ゐ う ゑ を
と正しい位置へ戻したのは、本居宣長です。宣長、字音仮名用格と云う書物を作って、
之を明らかにしましたが、それは安永四年（西暦一七七五年）の事でした。それより更
に六、七十年たって天保十三年（西暦一八四二年）には、若狭の義門が男信と云う書物
を作って、「ん」と「む」とは、それまで差別がないと云われていたのを、古典の精し
い調査によって、「む」は音尾ｍ、ま行に働き、「ん」は音尾ｎ、な行に転用するのだ
と云う、実にすばらしい発見を公表したのでした。国語を無造作にあつかい、その正し
い形を破り、美しい姿を崩してはなりません。我々の先祖は、遠い遠い昔において、実
に規則正しく、美しい言葉をつかっていたのです。そしてそれが、中世乱雑に流れてい
ったのを、契沖が現れ、宣長が現れ、更に義門が出て、元の法則を発見し、元の姿に戻
す事が出来たのです。
契沖より三十年ばかり遅れて、荷田東丸が伏見の稲荷神社の神職の家に生まれました
。寛文九年に生まれて、元文元年（西暦一七三六年）に亡くなりましたが、その六十八
年の一生は、国学を興すと云う大目的の為に費やされました。それまでは、我が国の古
典を研究する人も段々ありましたけれども、儒学か仏教の片手間に学ぶ態度が多かった
のを、東丸に至って初めて、儒学や仏教と離れ、それらと対抗して、国学という学問の
新しい分野を独立させようと云う熱情が出てきたのです。この人の詠みました歌に、
ふみわけよ 大和にはあらぬ 唐鳥の
跡を見るのみ 人の道かは
と云うのがありますが、その見識と、その計画とが、よく現れていますのは、国学校の
創立を幕府に申請した意見書であります。それは実にすばらしい漢文で書かれていて、
東丸の漢学の教養も深かった事が分かりますが、神皇（しんこう）の教え衰え、国家の
学廃れ、儒学と仏教とに従属する形になっている事を歎き、六国史や三代格、万葉集や
古今集の学問を興す事によって、皇国の道を盛んならしめなければならぬとし、その為
に京都伏見、もしくはその郊外に皇国の学校を建てて学者を養成したいとし、その援助
を幕府に申請したのでありました。不幸にしてこの計画は実行せられなかったのであり
ますが、この識見、この抱負こそ、実に国学の独立を促し、後輩を奮起させたのでした
。そしてこの申請書の中に、
「古語通ぜざれば、則ち古義明かならず、古義明かならざれば、則ち古学復せず、先
王の風、迹を払ひ、前賢の意、荒むに近し、一に語学を講ぜざるに由る」
とありますのは、これより国語の本義を極めようとする人々にとって、大きな激励とな
ったのでありました。
東丸の企画した国学校は出来なかったが、しかし東丸には偉大なる門人がありました
。賀茂真淵がそれであります。真淵は元禄十年に浜松の郊外で生まれ、三十七歳の時、
京都へ上って東丸の門人となり、その教えを受ける事四年、四十二の時に江戸へ出て、
研究を進めると同時に、門人に教授しました。その生涯は万葉集の研究に捧げられたと
云ってよいでしょう。著述には万葉考、冠辞考、国意考、歌意考等があります。日本橋
の浜町に住んで、家を県居と云ったので、県居の翁と呼ばれましたが、その精神、その
生活、いかにも古人の如くであって、少しも後世の事に心をとめなかったと云います。
江戸にある事三十余年、明和六年（西暦一七六九年）十月に七十三歳で亡くなりました
。
真淵の門人には、加藤千蔭、村田春海、楫取魚彦、内山真龍等、すぐれた人が沢山あ
りましたが、最も傑出した人物は、本居宣長でした。宣長は、宝暦十三年に、たまたま
伊勢へ旅行して松坂の宿屋に泊まった真淵をたずね、一夜教えを受けたのでした。時に
真淵は六十七歳、宣長は三十四歳、直接に顔を仰ぎ、言葉を交わしたのは、この一夜だ
けでしたが、これが宣長にとっては、その七十二年の生涯において、最も重大なる一夜
となりました。即ち宣長は、真淵と云う碩学に接して非常なる感銘を受けると同時に、
その碩学に啓発せられて、古事記と云う、当時最も読みにくく解しにくい古典の研究に
専念する決心をしたからです。そこで宣長は、正式に真淵の門人となり、その後は手紙
を以て教えを受け、やがて古事記伝の著述に着手し、三十年あまりの心血をそそいで、
古事記伝四十四巻（附録及び目録を合わせて四十八巻）を造り上げたのでした。荷田東
丸によって掲げられた国学は、賀茂真淵を経て本居宣長に至り、目ざましい発展を遂げ
、一応大成したと云って良いようになりました。宣長は、古事記伝の外にも、源氏物語
玉小櫛、初山踏、玉勝間等、数々の著述を残して、享和元年（西暦一八〇一年）九月、
七十二歳で亡くなりました。その肖像を自分で描いて、その賛に、
敷島の やまと心を 人問はば
朝日に匂ふ 山ざくら花
と書きました事は有名です。門人は全国にわたって非常に多く、その門人を通じて国学
が四方にひろまっていったのでしたが、没後に門人となった平田篤胤（天保十四年西暦
一八四三年没、六十八歳）と伴信友（弘化三年西暦一八四六年、七十四歳）とは、最も
すぐれた学者でした。世に国学の四大人と云うのは、東丸、真淵、宣長、及び篤胤を指
して云うのです。その東丸は、幕府に依頼して国学専攻の学校を興そうとしたのでした
し、真淵は江戸で徳川の一門である田安宗武に仕えたのでありましたし、また宣長にし
ても温和な性格で、これ等の人々には、幕府を鋭く批判する考えはありませんでしたが
、然し源氏物語や古今集、万葉集から古事記と、古典の研究が進められ、日本の古い精
神をたずね、古い道を明らかにしてゆきますと、心ある人は、これより一転して現実を
批判するようになるのは、当然の事でありましょう。
TOP
64 Motoori Norinaga
Studies of Japanese linguistics and literature really started up in the Edo
Period. There were many people who did yeoman work in that field, but we will
start with Kitamura Kigin.
Kigin was born in the 1st year of Kan'ei (1624) in Oumi. He was born six years
after Yamazaki Ansai and two after Yamaga Sokou. He devoted his life to the
study and annotation of Japan's ancient literary works. Among his more famous
works were A Commentary on Lady Murasaki's "Tale of Genji" (Genji Monogatari
Kogetsushou), A Commentary on "The Pillow Book" of Sei Shounagon (Makura no
Soushi Shunshoshou), and A Commentary on "Essays in Idleness" (Tsurezuregusa
Bundanshou). In addition, he wrote annotations for Tales of Yamato (Yamato
Monogatari), Japanese and Chinese Poems to Recite (Wakan Rouei Shuu), The Tosa
Diary (Tosa Nikki), Tales of Ise (Ise Monogatari), One Hundred Poems from One
Hundred Poets (Hyakunin Isshu), a Compilation of Eight Poetry Anthologies
(Hachidaishuu), etc. His labor to show the way to read historical books was a
major achievement. Because of his studies and his books, his life seems to have
been a hard one, but at the age of sixty-five he come under the care of the
shogunate and spent his waning years comfortably, dying in the 2nd year of
Houei (1706) at the age of eighty-one.
Born after Kigin, in the 17th year of Kan'ei (1641), and dying before him, in
the 14th year of Genroku (1701), was the priest of Enjuan named Keichuu.
Keichuu's original family name was Shimokawa. It had once been a famous family
in service to Katou Kiyomasa with a stipend of 10,000 koku, but after
Kiyomasa's fall, Keichuu's father entered the service of the Aoyama, commanders
of the castle of Amagasaki, receiving a stipend of only 250 koku. In other
words, he had been born into a reputable military house, but quickly entered a
Shingon-sect temple and studied to became a Buddhist priest. At one point
anguish led him to the point of committing suicide, but he tempered his body
and spirit by ascetic wonderings deep in the mountains and valleys. Eventually,
he shut himself up in Hisai in Izumi where he gave himself over to the study
of Buddhist texts and Chinese classics. At the age of thirty-eight, he became
the heat priest of Myouhouji in the Imasato area of Ohsaka. Under commission by
the Mito branch of the Tokugawa family, he wrote an annotation of the ancient
poetry anthology, The Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves (Man'youshuu). In his
later years he lived in Enjuan in Ohsaka's Kouzu district where he worked on
his writing. He died in the 1st month of the 14th year of Genroku (1701) at the
age of sixty-one.
Keichuu's most representational work was his annotation of the Man'youshuu,
the Man'you Daishouki. This was the book that had been requested of him by
Tokugawa Mitsukuni of Mito, and it was an extremely important work. To develop
his explanations on the Man'youshuu, he studied many ancient works including
the Record of Ancient Matters (Kojiki), the Chronicles of Japan (Nihon Shoki),
the Engi Procedural (Engi Shiki), and the Collection of Ancient and Modern
Poems (Kokinshuu). While studying them, he made an incredible discovery.
His discovery was that in the classical period, the usage of the kana
syllabary had been firmly set and there was no confusion allowed between "i"
（い） and "wi" （ゐ）,"e" （え） and "we" （ゑ）, "o" （お） and "wo" （を） -
they were clealy separate. This had been the proper way to write the language,
and it was beautiful. He realaze that, in the chaotic environment from the
medieval period onward, learning had somehow declined and the rules had been
forgotten. To brink back the proper order and restore beauty to the language's
from, he wrote The Book of Correct Japanese Characters (Waji Shouranshou) in
the 6th year of Genroku (1693), nearly 800 years after the completion of the
Kokinshuu in the 5th year of Engi (905). Thus it was Keichuu who put back in
its original order the language that had become so disordered. For that, students
of Japanese culture owe him a great debt of gratitude.
There were those who maintained Keichuu's arguments were baseless, and they
wrote eight volumes to refute theories that the classical syllabary had set
rules for use. When Keichuu saw these, he was enraged. He grabbed his brush and
produced five more volumes in a scathing refutation of them. Keichuu's instructions
showed the proper form of classical texts and the true beauty of the language.
Keichuu placed great inportance on the historical usage of the kana syllabary,
and published that fact.
Although he published his material, his study was not quite up to par, and
Japan wuold have to wait for a later scholar to correct Keichuu. An important
point, in the chart laying out the fifty-sounds in order, even Keichuu made a
mistake with the placement of the "o" and "wo". Keichuu had:
Ａ Ｉ Ｕ Ｅ ＷＯ あ い う え を
･･････
ＷＡ ＷＩ Ｕ ＷＥ Ｏ わ ゐ う ゑ お
instead of the correct:
Ａ Ｉ Ｕ Ｅ Ｏ あ い う え お
･･････
ＷＡ ＷＩ Ｕ ＷＥ ＷＯ わ ゐ う ゑ を
It was Motoori Norinaga who put them in the correct order. In the 4th year of
An'ei (1775) Norinaga wrote a book called Syllabary Sounds and Usage (Jion Kanazukai)
in which he laid the material out clearly.
Nearly seventy years later, in the 13th year of Tenpou (1842), Toujou Gimon in
Wakasa wrote Namashina, a book on Japanese language study. In that work, he
published his great discovery on the proper usage of "mu" （む） and "n"
（ん）, which until that time had not been distinguishable one from the other.
After detailed investigation of classical texts, he realized that "mu" actually
had the sond of Ｍ and belonged in the file that began with that sound
(i.e., ma, mi, mu, me, mo ［ま、み、む、め、も］), while "n" did indeed have
the Ｎ-sound and so was a part of the n-file ((i.e., na, ni, nu, ne, no ［な、
に、ぬ、ね、の］ - and thus n).
In the distant past, Japanese wrote beautiful language with the correct rules.
The language had fallen into an over-simplicity, rending the proper forms and
destroying its beauty. After falling into disorder during the mediaeval period,
Keichuu - and then Norinaga - appeared on the scene, introducing the old ways
and discovering the original rules, thus returning the Japanese language to its
oroginal form.
64a Motoori Norinaga
Only thirty years after Keichuu, Kada no Azumamaro was born into a priestly
family of the Inari Shrine in Fushimi. He was born in the 9th year of Kanbun
(1670) and died in the 1st year of Genbun (1736). He spend his sixty-seven
years working on his interest in the Japanese language. Until his day, there
were a few people who studied the classical texts, but they studied Buddhism or
Neo-Confucianism and only read Japanese classics in their spare time.
Azumamaro was the first to oppose Buddhist and Confucian texts in favor of
Japanese works, and thereby created the new, independent field of reserch that
was national learning (kokugaku). He wrote this poem:
"Make your path.
Is a man's way
only watching after
the Chinese bird
which is not found in Japan ?"
His view and plans were clear. He wrote to the shogunate suggesting the
creation of a school for the study of Japanese literature. His letter was in a
splendid text of kanbun - a type of classical Chinese - as his studies of Chinese
had also been profound. Therein, he lamented that teachings of the "heavenly
empire" of Japan had waned and the learning of kokugaku had declined under the
influence of Confucian and Buddhist learning. Furthermore, the Japanese Way
could not help but flourish anew with a reviving of studies of the Six National
Histories and the Three Great Law Compilations (Sandaikyaku), the Man'youshuu
and the Kokinshuu. Therefore, he wrote his memorial seeking help from the
shogunate to set up a school in the Fushimi district of Kyouto or in its
environs to train scholars in such subjects. Unfortunately, his plans were not
brought to fruition.
Because of his views and aspirations, and his urgings to set up an independent
national study program, he was sble to inspire younger generations of
scholars. In his memorial, he wrote: "If one is not familiar with classical
Japanese, that is, if one is not clear about the old forms, then the old ways
are not clear. The way of past kings no longer remains, and understanding of
the ideas of wise men of the past will come to be confused. This happens when
one isn't educated in language."
Although Azumamaro's planned school of national learning never came about, he
still had a splendid student. That student was Kamo no Mabuchi. Mabuchi had
been born in the outskirts of Hamamatsu in the 10th year of Genroku (1697). At
the age of thirty-six, he went to Kyouto and became Azumamaro's pupil, studying
with him for four years. At the age of forty-one, he went to Edo and continued
his research. While doing so, he took his own students. It may be said that
his career was spent in the study of the Man'youshuu. His works include A Study
of the Man'youshuu (Man'you Kou), A Study of Prefix or Epithetic Words (Kanji
Kou), A Study of the National Temper (Kokui Kou), and A Study of the Meaning of
Poetry (Kai Kou).
He lived in the Mamachou area of Nihonbashi in a house called Agatai, so he
was called "the old man of Agatai." His spirit and life were like those of men
of past ages, and it was said that he had little interest in the days in which
he lived. He lived in Edo for some thirty years, and died in the 10th month of
the 6th year of Meiwa (1769) at the age of seventy-two.
Mabuchi had many good students, including the likes of Katou Chikage, Murata
Harumi, Katori Nahiko, and Uchiyama Matatsu. His most outstanding student,
however, was Motoori Norinaga. Norinaga had been born in the 13th year of Houreki
(1730). One time Mabuchi went to Ise and stayed at an inn in Matsuzaka., and
Norinaga, who lived in Ise, went to visit Mabuchi and studied with him for one
night. At the time, Mabuchi was sixty-six, and Norinaga was thirty-three.
That was the only night they met face-to-face and actually conversed, but for
Norinaga, that one night remained the most important in all of his seventy-one
years. Meeting the great scholar himself left an incredibly deep impression on
Norinaga, and the encounter left him greatly edified. Norinaga became Mabuchi's
student, and thereafter received his learning by letter. He determined to
study closely The Record of Ancient Matters (Kojiki), which at that time was
the most difficult of the old texts to read and to understand, and began work
on his Commentary on the Kojiki (Kojiki Den). He poured his life into the work for
thirty years. Finished, the text of the Kojiki Den was forty-four volumes, whth
four more volumes for the appendix and index making a total of forty-eight.
National learning, created at the hands of Kada no Azumamaro and passing
through Kamo no Mabuchi, reached Motoori Norinaga and exploded with the
publication of his eye-opening magnum opus. It could only be considered an
incredible success from the outset.
In addition to the Kojiki Den, Norinaga wrote many other works, including The
Little Jeweled Comb of the Geiji Monogatari (Geji Monogatari Tama no Ogushi),
First Steps Up the Mountain (Uiyamabumi), and The Beautiful Basket (Tama
Katsuma).
In the 9th month of the 1st year of Kyouwa (1801), Norinaga died. He was sevent
y-one. he painted his own portrait, and on it he wrote the now famous legend,
"If one asks about
the Yamato spirit
of these islands,
it is like the mountain cherry blossoms
that bloom in the morning sun."
He had an extraordinary number of students scattered all over Japan, and
through them interest in national learning spread to every corner of the
country. After his death, two of his students - Hirata Atsutane (d. Tenpou 14
[1843], aged sixty-seven) and Ban Nobutomo (d. Kouka 3 [1846], aged
seventy-three) - became outstanding scholars.
If one were to name the four giants of national learning, they would be
Azumamaro, Mabuchi, Norinaga, and Atsutane. It had been Azumamaro who had
proposed to the shogunate a school for the teaching of national studies.
Mabuchi worked for Tayasu Munetake - of the Tokugawa house - in Edo. Norinaga
had a mild temperament. None of these men had anything negative to say about
the shogunate.
Studies of the Japanese classics - Genji Monogatari, Kokinshuu, Man'youshuu,
and Kojiki - continued, hearkening back to the old Japanese character and
clarifying the old ways. It is perhaps only natural that those with
understanding therefore came to criticize the ways of their day.
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少年日本史 (平泉澄)
The story of Japan （Hiraizumi Kiyoshi)
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