Meirokusha
The Meirokusha ( Japanese 明 六 社 , dt "Society of the Year Meiji 6") was an intellectual society of the Meiji period in Japan .
It was proposed by statesman Mori Arinori in 1873 (6 years after the Meiji Restoration ) and was officially established on February 11, 1874 . It aimed to promote “civilization” ( 文明 , bummei) and enlightenment ( 啓蒙 , keimō), to introduce western ethics and elements of western civilization in Japan. She played an important role in the introduction and dissemination of Western ideas in the Meiji period , both through public lectures and through the magazine Meiroku Zasshi ("Journal of the Year Meiji 6") which she published.
During his stay from 1871 to 1873 as Japan's first ambassador to the United States, Mori was impressed by the activities of the American educational societies and influenced by Horace Mann's views of "universal education".
Members
Founding members were:
- Mori Arinori
- Nishimura Shigeki
- Fukuzawa Yukichi
- Katō Hiroyuki
- Mitsukuri Rinshō
- Mitsukuri Shuhei
- Nakamura Masanao
- Nishi Amane
- Tsuda Mamichi
- Sugi Kōji
later the society grew to 31 members, among them were:
- Sakatani Shiroshi
- Kanda Takahira
- Maejima Hisoka
- Nagayo Sensai
- Tanaka Fujimaro
- Tsuda Sen
- Ōtsuki Fumihiko
- William Elliot Griffis
So its membership included some of the leading Japanese educators, officials, and philosophers of the 19th century from very diverse backgrounds. Most had studied both Confucianism and Western philosophy and had spent extended periods abroad.
The Confucian faction saw the basis of the strength and prosperity of Western nations in moral strength and urged Japan to follow the same path.
The faction, which is more closely related to Western philosophy, emphasized that the cause was to be ascribed to logic and to rationally organized and managed organizations and institutions.
The pragmatists, on the other hand, held that Japan had its own strengths, which had to be combined with Western values and the Western system of government.
Although members of the Meirokusha met until around 1900, their influence declined sharply after they were forced to cease publication of their magazine in 1875 due to tightening of press legislation.
further reading
- Ivan Parker Hall: Mori Arinori . Massachusetts, Harvard University Press 1973, ISBN 0-674-58730-8
- Tozawa Yukio: Meirokusha no Hitobito . Tsukiji Shokan 1991, ISBN 4-8067-5690-3 (Japanese)
- William R. Braisted, Adachi Yasushi, Kikuchi Yuji: Meiroku Zasshi: Journal of the Japanese Enlightenment Pacific Affairs , Vol. 50, No. 3 (Autumn, 1977), pp. 525-528