Hoashi Banri

Bust of Hoashi Banris in front of the ruins of the Hiji Castle

Foreword by Hoashi Banri from 1828 to a report by his student Murakami Gensui on the dissection of a corpse

Hoashi Banri ( Japanese 帆 足 萬里 , born February 11, 1778 in the castle town of Hiji, Bungo Province ( 豊 後 国 日出 ); † July 30, 1852 there) was a Japanese Confucian, doctor and naturalist. Together with Miura Baien (1723–1789) and Hirose Tansō (1782–1856) he is one of the "Three Wise Men of Bungo" ( Bungo sankenjin , 豊 後 三 賢人 ).

Life

Hoashi was born the son of a governor of the Hiji domain. In 1791, at the age of 14, he first became a student of the Confucian Waki ​​Ranshitshu ( 脇 蘭 室 , 1764-1814). Four years later he went to Ōsaka to the renowned "Merchant Academy" Kaitokudō ( 懐 徳 堂 ) of the Confucian Nakai Chikuzan ( 中 井 竹山 ) and then to Kyoto to the Confucian, poet and painter Minagawa Kien ( 皆川 淇 園 ). At around the age of 30, he was hired as a teacher at the Hiji clan school. In 1832 he rose to the rank of bailiff (karō) . In this office, against considerable opposition, he straightened the shattered finances of the domain within three years.

Then he founded the private academy Seienseisha ( 西 崦 精 舎 ) ， in which he trained hundreds of students from all parts of Kyūshū not only in classical literature, but also in practical economics and a western-oriented natural history. In 1847 he traveled to Kyōto with his students for reasons that were not yet clear , where he stayed until the following year.

Thanks to careful "care of life" (yōjō) Hoashi reached a high age of 74 years despite his weak constitution.

Studies

The focus of Hoashi's studies was in the areas of economics, administration and history, but he also dealt intensively with natural history ( kyūrigaku , 窮 理学 ) under the influence of Miura Baien . At the age of about 40 he came across the Dutch-Japanese dictionary Yakken ( 訳 鍵 ) published by Fujibayashi Fuzan ( 藤 林 普 山 ) . Mostly in self-study he acquired a remarkable ability to read Dutch texts and from then on pursued studies in Western medicine, astronomy and physics. His book Kyūri-tsū , which deals with questions of physics and chemistry, is considered a seminal work in early modern Japanese natural sciences. In his texts, written in Chinese, he is based on the style of literature before the Qin and Han periods.

Works

• Tōsenpuron ( 東 潜夫 論 ), ca.1844
• Igaku keimō ( 医学 啓蒙 ), 1850
• Kyūri-tsū ( 窮 理 通 ), 1856

These and many other writings are available in a work edition:

• Hoashi Banri Zenshū ( 帆 足 萬里 全集 ). Pelican-sha, 1988

literature

• Yoshida Tadashi: Hoashi Banri - kan-ran-setchū wo toku juka . In: Michel / Torii / Kawashima: Kyūshū no rangaku. Shibunkaku, 2009, 128–132 ( 吉田 忠 「帆 足 万里 - 漢 蘭 折衷 を 説 く 儒家」 」。 ヴ ォ ル フ ガ ガ ン グ ・ ミ ヒ ェ ル 、 鳥 井 裕美子 、 川 嶌 眞 人 共 編 九州 の 編 編『 九州 の 編 編 『九州 の の 編 編『 九州 の の 編 編 『九州 の の 編 編 学 九州 の 編 学 九州 の 編 学 九州 )
• Hoashi Tonaji: Hoashi Banri . Yoshikawa kōbunkan, 1990 ( 帆 足 図 南 次 『帆 足 万里』 吉川弘 文 館 )
• Hoashi Tonaji: Hoashi Banri to igaku . Kōyō shobō, 1983 ( 帆 足 図 南 次 『帆 足 万里 と 医学』 甲 陽 書房 )

Web links

List of writings by and about Suzuki Tadao in the Database of Pre-Modern Japanese Works ( National Institute of Japanese Literature )

Remarks

1. ↑ This was the second such section on Kyushu . She was followed by more than 50 doctors in the region.
2. ↑ according to the Japanese calendar 15th day of the 1st month in the 7th year of the motto An'ei
3. ↑ Today Hiji , Ōita Prefecture
4. ↑ according to the Japanese calendar 14th day of the 6th month in the 5th year of the motto Ka'ei

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . So Hoashi is the family name, Banri the first name.