Dazai Shundai

Dazai Shundai

Dazai Shundai ( Japanese 太宰 春 台, real first name: Jun (純) ; born November 5, 1680 in Iida ( Shinano Province , now Nagano Prefecture ); died July 7, 1747 ) was a Japanese Confucianist and economist from the middle Edo period .

Live and act

Dazai Shundai was born as the second son of the samurai Dazai Nobutoki ( 太宰 信 辰 ), with whom he went to Edo , today's Tōkyō. At the age of 15 he entered the service of the daimyō of Izushi ( 出 石 ) in what is now Hyōgo Prefecture . When Shundai resigned at the age of 21, it upset the prince.

Shundai spent the next few years studying in the Kyoto-Osaka area. 11 years later he returned to Edo and continued his education under Ogyū Sorai . Together with Hattori Nankaku , he became one of Sorai's two best students.

Shundai excelled especially in the field of political economy. In his work “Discussion of the Economy” ( 経 済 録 Keizairoku ) from 1735, he emphasized the importance of economic processes, both in the public and in the private sector. Other works include Bendōsho ( 弁 道 書 ; 1735), Seigaku Mondo ( 聖 学 問答 , 1736), Rongo Kokon ( 論語 古訓 ; 1739), Rongo Kokongaiden ( 論語 古訓 外 伝 ; 1745), Koshi (= Laozi ) Tokkai ( 老子 特 解 ; 1747), Shishibaen-kō ( 紫芝 園 稿 ; posthumously 1752) and many others.

literature

• S. Noma (Ed.): Dazai Shundai . In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993, ISBN 4-06-205938-X , p. 275.

Web links

Commons : Dazai Shundai  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Dazai Shundai at Kotobank , accessed October 19, 2019 (Japanese)

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Dazai is the family name, Shundai the first name.