Hayashi Razan, known as Hayashi Doshun, was a Japanese Neo-Confucian philosopher and writer, serving as a tutor and an advisor to the first four shoguns of the Tokugawa bakufu.
14 Facts About Hayashi Razan
2.
Hayashi Razan is attributed with first listing the Three Views of Japan.
3.
Hayashi Razan reinterpreted Shinto, and thus created a foundation for the eventual development of Confucianised Shinto in the 20th century.
4.
Hayashi Razan separated people into four distinct classes: samurai, farmers, artisans and merchants.
5.
Hayashi Razan developed a practical blending of Shinto and Confucian beliefs and practices.
6.
In 1607, Hayashi Razan was accepted as a political advisor to the second shogun, Tokugawa Hidetada.
7.
Hayashi Razan became the rector of Edo's Confucian Academy, the Shohei-ko which was built on land provided by the shogun.
8.
Hayashi Razan had the honorific title Daigaku-no-kami, which became hereditary in his family.
9.
Hayashi Razan argued that Emperor Jimmu and the Imperial line were ultimately descended from an offshoot Chinese royal family by Wu Taibo.
10.
The political dominance of Hayashi Razan's ideas lasted until the end of the 18th century.
11.
Hayashi Razan helped to legitimize the role of the militaristic bakufu at the beginning of its existence.
12.
In January 1858, Hayashi Akira, the hereditary Daigaku-no-kami descendant of Hayashi Razan, headed the bakufu delegation that sought advice from the emperor in deciding how to deal with newly assertive foreign powers.
13.
Hayashi Razan has been praised by some Japanese scholars for his relatively dispassionate attempt at understanding history for the time, leading some scholars to call him the "founder of modern historical research" in Japan.
14.
Hayashi Razan's work was influential on Arai Hakuseki, who is considered to have been even more dispassionate scholar.