Peter Yoshiro Saeki

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Peter Yoshiro Saeki ( Japanese 佐伯 好 郎 , Saeki Yoshirō or ピ ー タ ー ・ （ヨ シ ロ ウ ・） サ エ キ , Pītā (Yoshirō) Saeki ; born September 15, 1871 , † June 26, 1965 ,) was a Japanese religious scholar and lawyer . He was best known in Japan for his theories on Nestorian Christianity and Jewish culture . He also played an important role in the urban planning of the new Hiroshima after the atomic bombing in 1945 .

Life

Saeki was a Japanese Christian who began his studies at the then Tōkyō Seimon Gakkō ( Waseda University ) in 1890 . In the same year he was baptized and entered the Anglican Episcopal Church of Japan. Graduated in 1893, he traveled to the United States and then went to Canada to study languages at the University of Toronto . There he received a degree in 1895. He returned to Tōkyō to teach English at the Tōkyō Seimon Gakkō and the Tokyo French School . He later taught at the Tokyo Higher Normal School (独立 女 学校), at the Fifth Higher School ( Kumamoto ), the Tōkyō Kōgyō Daigaku (Tokyo Technical University) and from 1922 at Meiji University . From 1930 to 1931 he was on a research stay in China and researched from 1931 to 1940 at the University of Tokyo , where he obtained a doctorate in 1941.

research

As early as 1904 he began his research on Chinese history and developed into an expert on the history of Nestorianism in China. In 1908 he published a book in which he put forward the theory that the Hata clan , who immigrated to Japan from Korea in the 3rd century , was in fact a Jewish Nestorian tribe. Ben Ami-Shillony writes that Saeki's work established the "theory of common ancestry between Japanese and Jews (Nichi-Yu dosoron) in Japan," a theory that has been propagated by several Christian groups. Other versions of this theory of descent were developed by other authors at the time.

In 1916 he published the study The Nestorian Monument in China , an analysis of the Nestorian Stele , a monument describing the history of the Chinese Nestorian Church until AD 781. The book summarized the various theories about the stele. His theories of religion were influenced by Friedrich Max Müller .

Hiroshima

After the Second World War , Saeki was appointed mayor of Hatsukaichi ( Hiroshima ). During this time he also worked as a consultant for the reconstruction of Hiroshima after the atomic bomb explosion on August 6, 1945. He gave the instruction to rebuild the city in a relatively small area, but well thought out and planned.

Honors

In 1962 he received an honorary doctorate from Waseda University .

Works

  • Keikyo hibun kenkyu. The Nestorian monument in China. [1911].
  • The Nestorian Monument in China. London: SPCK 1916, reprinted 1928.
  • The luminous religion, a study of Nestorian Christianity in China, with a translation of the inscription upon the Nestorian tablet. , with CE Couling, London: Carey press 1925.
  • Roma ho koyo. 1927.
  • Keikyo no kenkyu. Tokyo: Toho Bunka Gakuin Tokyo Kenkyujo-Hatsubaijo Bunkyudo Shoten, Showa 10 [1935]; Reprint: Tokyo: Meicho Fukyukai, Showa 53 [1978 & 1980].
  • Articles in the Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 1932-1936.
  • Shina Kirisutokyo no kenkyu. Showa 18-24 [1943-49], 4 vols.
  • Nestorian Documents and Relics in China. Tokyo: Toho bunkwa gakuin: The Academy of oriental culture, 1937; 2. ed., Tokyo: Maruzen 1951. English edition of Keikyo no kenkyu .
  • Catalog of the Nestorian literature and relics. Tokyo: Maruzen 1950.
  • Chūgoku ni okeru Keikyo suibo no rekishi. Kyoto: Habado Enkei Doshisha Toho Bunka Koza Iinkai, Showa 30 [1955].
  • Roma teikoku Kirisutokyo hogo kitei no kenkyu. 1957.
  • Saeki Yoshiro iko narabini den. Showa 45 [1970].

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Meiji period : year 4, 1st month, 8th day
  2. ↑ "Saiki's writings spread the theory about 'the common ancestry of the Japanese and the Jews' (Nichi-Yu dosoron) in Japan, a theory that was endorsed by some Christian groups." Ben Ami-Shillony: The Jews and the Japanese: The Successful Outsiders. Rutland, VT: Tuttle 1991: 134-135.
  3. ↑ DE Mungello: Curious Country: Jesuit Accommodation and the Origins of Sinology. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu 1989: 164.
  4. ↑ Article on the Planning for Hiroshima's reconstruction. ( Memento of the original from February 5, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.city.hiroshima.jp
personal data
SURNAME Saeki, Peter Yoshiro
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 佐伯 好 郎 (Japanese); Saeki Yoshirō; ピ ー タ ー ・ サ エ キ (Japanese, religious name); PY Saeki; P. Yoshi Saeki; Peter Saeki; Pītā Saeki; Yoshiro Saeki; Y. Saeki
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese religious scholar and lawyer
DATE OF BIRTH September 15, 1871
PLACE OF BIRTH Japan
DATE OF DEATH June 26, 1965