The Meaning of Heaven according to Nishi Amane Saitō Takako The starting point for this research stemmed from my exami- nation of Nishi Amane’s translated words from English to Japanese. I discovered that he used the Chinese character ri 理 repeatedly. The word ri is commonly translated “principle” in English. For instance, Nishi wrote that the word “philosophy” could be translated by rigaku riron 理學理論, which means the study of ri and the theory of ri. However he wrote that he chose the term tetsugaku 哲學 in order not to create confusion between European technical terms and Neo-Confucian tech- nical terms.1 Nishi translated the term “theology” as shinrigaku 神理學,2 which means the study of the principle of deity. The term “ontology” was translated as ritaigaku 理體學,3 which means the study of the prin- ciple of substance. Why did Nishi use this character ri so frequently? * The author expresses her gratitude to Helen Shall for translating this text from French into English. 1「. 生性發蘊」『, 西周全集』[Complete works of Nishi Amane, hereafter naz fol- lowed by volume number], (Tokyo: Munataka Shobō, 1961), i: 31. 2. naz i: 48 ; naz iv: 111. 3. naz iv: 152. 1 2 | The Meaning of Heaven according to Nishi Amane This was the first question I faced in studying Nishi’s works. I came to understand that Nishi used the word ri as a cornerstone to clarify Euro- pean terminology and to translate it into Japanese. I have treated this question in a recently published article.4 During the research for that article I discovered the following, “Heaven means the place from which principles are formed.”5 It caught my attention and heightened my curiosity to know precisely what he meant by it. I therefore began my research for the present essay by delv- ing into the meaning of this enigmatic phrase. Nishi Amane 西周, who was born in 1829 and died in 1897, belongs to the generation of Japanese thinkers who lived through the latter half of the nineteenth century, experiencing firsthand what was undoubtedly the greatest upheaval that Japanese society has ever known. My aim in this paper is to understand the meaning of Heaven (天 Jap. ten; Ch. tian), a term that had an absolute, spiritual meaning for Nishi. Much has been published about him in general, notably in Japa- nese, but work is limited on this particular question. Koizumi Takashi refers briefly to Nishi’s belief in Heaven in a 1975 essay, but he does not carry through on his analysis of the notion.6 Koizumi Takashi’s semi- nal work, Nishi Amane’s Encounter with Western Thought, published in 1989, recounts the main tenets of Nishi’s thought and situates it in rela- tion to Ogyū Sorai (荻生徂徠 1666–1728) and J. S. Mill (1806–1873).7 Koizumi notes that Sorai exerted a significant influence on Nishi before the latter’s discovery of Western thought. An article by Ōkubo Yasu- haru published in 2004 compares Nishi Amane’s religious thought with that of Nakamura Keiu (1832–1891). According to Ōkubo, Nishi tried to deepen traditional Confucian thinking about Heaven once the Meiji government in 1873 lifted the ban on Christianity and opened the door 4. Saitō Takako “La problématique du ri et la philosophie occidentale selon Nishi Amane,” Cipango 13, (Paris: Publications Langues O’, 2006), 78–100. 5. 天トハ理ノ由テ出ル所ヲ指ス者「, 教門論」 [On religions], naz 1,505. 6. KOizUMi Takashi 小泉 仰「, 西周の宗教観」 [The religious perspective of Nishi Amane]『 明治思想家の宗教観』[The religious perspective of Meiji thinkers], (Tokyo: Daizō Shuppan, 1975), 91–101. 7. KOizUMi Takashi, 西周と欧米思想との出会い [Nishi Amane’s encounter with Western thought], (Tokyo: Mitsumine Shobō, 1989), 332–4. saitō takakO | 3 for him to develop his ideas on religion. Ōkubo underlines the influence on Nishi of a nineteenth-century Dutch philosopher, Cornelis Willem Opzoomer, particularly with regard to the question of the separation of religion and scientific study.8 In what follows I will examine Nishi’s meaning of Heaven in relation to another idea he calls on, that of principal or law (理 Jap. ri, Ch. li), an idea that I have found to be essential to understanding his system of thought. I begin with the notion of “principal” in order to understand his use of the term Heaven. As far as Nishi’s life is concerned, there are various sources such as Koizumi Takashi and Thomas R. H. Havens.9 It is enough here simply to note that up to the age of twenty-four, Nishi was educated in his fief of Tsuwano, which is situated in present-day Shimane prefecture, and was schooled in Confucianism, the official doctrine of the time. On arriving in Edo in 1854, at the very moment that Commodore Perry and his fleet were sailing into the capital’s harbor, he started learning Dutch and English. A few years later, in 1862, the Edo government sent him to Leiden in the Netherlands, where he was to concentrate his studies on national and international law. After two years he returned to Japan where he held numerous high-ranking posts both in the political sphere and in the field of education. He worked in the Ministry for Military Affairs, gave lectures to the emperor, and was one of the founding mem- bers of the Tokyo Academy, established in 1879. His writing concerned a wide variety of areas: psychology, logic, morality, law, and politics. Nishi also translated three books into Japanese: one a collection of lecture by his teacher in Leiden, Simon Visseling, entitled『 萬國公法』Interna- tional Public Law; Mental Philosophy, Including the Intellect, Sensibilities, and Will by Joseph Haven under the title of『 心理學』(1875 and 1876), and John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism under the title『利學』(1877). He 8. ŌkUbO Yasuharu 大久保健晴, 「明治知識人における宗教論の諸相」[Diverse aspects of religious arguments by intellectuals of the Meiji era]『, 政治思想研究』May 2004: 59–78. 9. For the life and works of Nishi Amane, see KOizUMi Takashi, op. cit.; and Thomas R. H. HavEns, Nishi Amane and Modern Japanese Thought (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1970). Havens explores mainly the Westernizing ten- dency of Nishi’s thought. 4 | The Meaning of Heaven according to Nishi Amane is considered in Japan to be the first translator of fundamental West- ern scientific terms such as “reason” (risei 理性), “idea” (kannenn 觀 念), “subject” (shutai 主觀), “object” (kyakkan 客觀) and “philosophy” (tetsugaku 哲學). A significant proportion of this terminology is still used in contemporary Japan. Nishi and thE cOnfUcian traditiOn According to the bibliographic notes recorded in his Complete Works, just before leaving for Edo in 1854, Nishi was nominated in his fief as a teacher of Confucian studies.10 It is thus possible for us to con- clude that he was educated in Confucian thought to the point that he was qualified to teach it. After discovering the Western sciences, how- ever, Nishi harshly criticized this tradition and especially the Neo-Con- fucians of the Song dynasty, among them the Cheng brothers, Cheng Hao 程顥 (1032–1085) and Cheng Yi 程頤 (1033–1107), and Zhu Xi 朱 憙 (1130–1200). His main criticism was that Confucianism never makes a clear distinction between politics and morality. He also rejected the idea that the laws of nature and the laws of morality belong to the same level of thought. For Nishi, this confusion, even if it was the work of the Four Sages11 of the Confucian tradition, could no longer hold true after Western civilizations’s discovery of the laws of nature. Nishi added a fur- ther criticism by claiming that Confucianism, because of its veneration of antiquity, remains static and incapable of innovation. Nishi underlines the fact that mentalities change according to the age and according to place; they are different for different people and for different social posi- tions. The clear implication is that it is no longer possible to practice a pure form of Confucianism.12 Nishi clearly wanted to go beyond the Confucianism of his early edu- 10. naz iii: 133. 11. naz i: 287. Fuxi 伏羲, King Wen文王 (founder of the Zhou dynasty), The Duke of Zhou 周公 and Confucius: these four characters, the first of whom remains mythi- cal, are considered as Confucian models. According to legend, they wrote the text of the Yijing 易経. 12. naz i: 274–5, 278, 280. saitō takakO | 5 cation, but it will become clear below why he was not able to shake it off completely. To go beyond this tradition, he focused on the distinction between two areas of study, the intellectual and the physical, giving more weight to the former than to the latter. At the same time, his morality was based on the notion of Heaven, in the ancient Chinese meaning of the term, which can be traced back even further than the beginnings of Confucian thought. In the Edo period a number of thinkers were interested in studying the ancient Chinese texts directly without being influenced by the texts of the Song scholars. Ogyū Sorai (1666–1728), who exerted a significant influence over Nishi, was one of them.13 It therefore bears looking more closely at the common points he and Sorai shared in their understanding of the idea of Heaven. Ri and intEllEctUal and physical stUdiEs The traditional way of looking at two areas of study, the intel- lectual and the physical, as if they belonged to the same level of reflec- tion, was a major source of dissatisfaction for Nishi with the Confucianist tradition. After studying in Leiden, he labored to explain their differ- ences and to separate them. Indeed, in Japan Nishi is considered the first thinker to have tried to distinguish between these two areas of study by drawing on schools of contemporary Western thought.14 In order to understand his reasoning, we may consider Nishi’s class notes from around 1871.15 In his lectures he uses the notion of ri to translate into Japanese the two English expressions “intellectual science” and “physical science.” Intellectual science is translated as “studies of the Principles of the heart” (shinrijō no gaku 心理上の學) and physical sci- ence as “studies of the Principles of physical things” (butsurijō no gaku 13. On this subject, see KOizUMi Takashi, op. cit., 3–29. 14. See ŌkUbO Toshiyasu 大久保利謙「解説」 [Commentary], naz 4, 609. Ōkubo suggests as a possible source of the distinction between the two domains in ques- tion: Joseph Haven, Mental Philosophy, Including the Intellect, Sensibilities, and Will (1857), which Nishi himself translated into Japanese. 15. Nishi started giving classes on European scientific thought in Tokyo once the political situation made it possible. 6 | The Meaning of Heaven according to Nishi Amane 物理上の學). Before examining these class notes, let us examine Nishi’s definition of the term ri. Ri was a key notion in the Neo-Confucian tradition of the Song dynasty, and more precisely in the School of Zhu Xi, which was the offi- cial doctrine during Nishi’s intellectual training. For example, Cheng Yi claimed that “everything has its Principle.” According to him, it was precisely this Principle that gave reality its normative base.16 According to Zhu Xi, “getting to the root of the Principle of each thing” (窮理 Ch. quiongli; Jap. kyūri) was the primordial attitude necessary for learning. This expression is used in his commentary on the opening sentence of The Great Learning. According to Zhu Xi, persons with this attitude would be able to expand their knowledge of things and arrive at genuine intentions that would lead to a pure heart, and would finally bring about great peace in the entire universe.17 In 1882 Nishi composed a few pages devoted to the notion of ri.18 He begins with an etymological explanation in Chinese19—to work on jade to bring out its natural veins, and hence to put things in order—and from there goes on to cite passages from classical Chinese texts using this term. He notes that the Neo-Confucians of the Song dynasty were the first to use this term frequently, which was not much used before them. Next Nishi provides three Japanese words that he considers to be synonymous. The first is kotowari 事分り, knowing how to separate the whole circumstance into parts, and hence to understand a situation. The second is also pronounced kotowari 言分り and means knowing how to separate into parts what has been said, and hence to understand the spo- ken word. Now since the Chinese character ri can be read in Japanese as either kotowari or ri, we may conclude that Nishi is examining the 16. “Toute chose a son principe. Par exemple, ce qui fait que (suoyi 所以)　le feu est chaud, que l’eau est froide, et même ce qui régit les rapports entre souverain et ministre, père et fils : ce sont là autant de principes.” Translation from Anne Cheng, Histoire de la pensée chinoise (Paris: Seuil, Points Essais, 2002), 476. 17. The Zhu Xi text I have referred to is that found in「大学章句補伝」in『大学中 庸』, 新釈漢文大系 2 (Tokyo: Meiji Shoin, 1967), 123–6. 18「. 尚白箚記」, naz i: 165–72. 19. Nishi relies on the『説文解字』, naz 1, 167. saitō takakO | 7 meaning of the Chinese character ri by transcribing it in two different ways in order to highlight the idea of separation and understanding. His third synonym is hazu 筈, which means the natural consequence of reasoning. He goes on to compare the term ri with a number of Western words. From the outset he notes the absence of an absolute equivalent, but then indicates the terms “reason,” “law of nature,” “principle” and “idea” in the Platonic sense. Concerning this latter he writes: This term [idea] might seem unrelated to the character ri, but, in the end, it has a profound significance that seems almost identical to the definition of the Song Dynasty Neo-Confucians. It is necessary to examine this notion fully.20 Without developing the point further, he concludes: We know one part of ri, but we can not know it in its entirety […]. We can know that ri is that which is permanent and necessary, but there is no reason to know its entirety.21 What Nishi is doing here is trying to grasp the Western terms for “rea- son,” “prin ciple,” “natural law,” and “idea” in a Platonic sense by assimi- lating them to the notion of ri. He also wanted to deepen his thinking on the relationship between the Platonic idea and the ri of the Song Dynasty Neo-Confucianism, but in the end was unable to do so. We may also note that the ri was defined by him as that which is permanent and necessary, and as such lies beyond the capacity of human beings to comprehend in its entirety. Taking this definition into account, we may render this term in English as Principle or Law. Next we turn to a notebook in which Nishi underlines the importance of differentiating the two domains of learning, the physical and the intel- lectual or moral. He writes: [In the West] Two types of study exist: intellectual science and physi- cal science. In Europe, since ancient times, intellectual science was 20. 是は理の字と餘り關渉無き様に見ゆれと，深く宋儒の指す理と同一趣の理を徴する 語と成れり，是猶下に委しく論す可し，naz i: 170. 21. 吾人固より理の一端を知れとも其全體を知る事能はさる事有り［，略］一定必然の者 たりと云ふ一端は知れとも其全體は知るに由無き也，naz i: 171–2. 8 | The Meaning of Heaven according to Nishi Amane called mental, moral, spiritual, or metaphysical (a study that relates to that which is exterior to the Principles of things). […] As the study of what is exterior to the Principles of things designates that which relates to the Principles of the heart, it is impossible to determine the limits of this domain. For example: fighting an enemy, evaluating his force or studying his weaponry comes under the Principle sof things, while to reflect on strategy or the way to put it into effect concerns the Principles of the heart. […] Even animals can know the Principles of things, but they do not know well what belongs to Principles of the heart. […] In the West, nowadays, the Principles of things are largely exploited, and according to the doctrine of materialism, this is the sum total of study. And yet, such thinking is that of a person who has lost his point of reference and must not be followed. The absence of the study of the Principles of the heart leads to the abolition of the Way of Politeness. 學に intellectual (心理上ノ) science 及ひ physical (物理上ノ) science と て二ツあり，此の心理上の學は古来歐羅巴中定まりなく種々ありて mental なるあり，或は moral 或は spiritual 或は metaphysica（l 物理外の學）等 あり， […] 凡そ物理外の學は即ち心理學なるか故に，此の學に於ては幾何 なりと極りあるものにあらさるなり，[…] 譬えは今或敵ありて戦ひをなす に，其強サを論じ及び鉄砲器械等に就て論するは物理なり，其計策及び方 略の如きは心理なるものなり，[…] 物理は禽獣の如きも能く知るものにし て，心理に至りては能く知ること能はす，[…] 西洋近来に至りては物理大 に開け，materialism の説に學は物理にありと云ふに至れり，然れとも甚 だ耽溺せし所の語にして強ち従ふへきにあらす，若し心理の學なきときは 禮義の道も自から廢するに至るへし22 In this passage, as mentioned above, Nishi translates intellectual sci- ence as “a study according to the Principles of the heart,” and physical science as “a study according to the Principles of physical things.” This distinction between two spheres will be important for understanding his reasoning about the relationship between Principle and Heaven. Secondly, we may note that Nishi thought that even animals—to be perfectly clear, Nishi uses a pejorative word (禽獸) for animals—could 22「百學連環」, naz iv: 68. Translated by Saitō Takako and Helen Shall. The Eng- lish words in the original text have been italicized in the translation. saitō takakO | 9 know the Principles of physical things, but that they could not know a moral Principle. Only a human being is capable of this. And thirdly, Nishi is harshly critical of the rise in materialism in the West that could destroy “the Way of Politeness.” It is worth underscoring the fact that for Nishi it was obvious that “learning the Principles of the heart” is more valuable than the study of the physical and material world. In order to better understand Nishi’s two expressions, “the Principle of physical things” and “the Principle of the heart,” we turn to a book published in 1874 (M. 7),23 he develops his thinking on these two Princi- ples. In a word, he states that the Principles of physical things are natural laws (tennen 天然, which means a “natural state, such as Heaven has cre- ated”). Not only the greater universe and the massive starts, but every- thing from the tiniest drop of water to the plants and animals to the human being are governed by this Principle. No human being, even a Son of Heaven (Tenshi 天子) can change it. Exorcisms cannot transform it. This Principle precedes the natural character of a man determined by Heaven at the time of his birth (sententeki 先天的, a neologism of Nishi’s age intended to translate the Western term a priori). On the other hand, the Principles of the heart apply only to human beings, and only humans can contradict these Principles through unjust actions. These Principles are practicable in differing degrees, but they are not measurable. According to the occasion, the place, the individual, and one’s position, the Principles can change. For this reason, it is dif- ficult to quantify them. The Principles of the heart are subsequent to Heaven’s determination of the character of an individual (kōtenteki 後天 的, another neologism of the time to translate the term a posteriori). We may note in passing that Nishi does not distinguish the plural from the singular form of the word Principle (ri) in his texts—and indeed, in Japanese, it is almost impossible to be precise on this question since the distinction is generally disregarded—but writes in the text cited above that the Principle of each physical thing is unique and valid for all per- sons, while the Principles of the heart are much more complex and very difficult to quantify.24 23.「 百一新論」,naz i: 277–80. 24. Ibid., naz i: 281. 10 | The Meaning of Heaven according to Nishi Amane In another text published later, in 1880 (M. 13), Nishi opposes and then reconciles these two types of Principles as distinct forces, both necessary for the development of a society. His reasoning is as follows: natural law is a Principle bestowed by Heaven on all beings. For the human person, the body (nikutai 肉體) is sustained by this Principle. If there were only this Principle, however, the strong would overpower the weak, the intel- ligent would lord it over the dim of wit, and the rich would control the poor. But Heaven also bestows tenderness on human beings (aizen no jō 藹然の情) that allows them to act according to Laws of the heart and to neutralize these situations. In a developed country—I assume that Nishi is thinking of the Netherlands, where he lived for two years—one can see the opposite: the weak seizing power from the strong, the dull from the brilliant, the poor from the rich. Nishi concludes: Without annihilating the flow of the Principle by which the strong overwhelm the weak, the intelligent suppress the dull, the rich over- come the poor, it is also true that, while using the Principles of the heart which are dynamic factors, and while regulating the degree of annihilation, one controls the degree of neutralization. […] The strong should not take power over the weak, but help them; the intel- ligent should not take power over the dull, but inform them; the rich should not take power over the poor, but help them. This is to obey Heaven’s will; while using the two opposing forces, people manage to obtain a harmony in social relations. It is the law that enables them to achieve social well-being. 強能ク弱ヲ制シ，賢能ク愚ヲ制シ，富能ク貧ヲ制スル理ノ流行ヲ阻攩スル コトナク，更ニ心理ノ活機，之カ力ヲ減殺スルノ度ヲ節シ，之ヲ利用シテ 以テ中和ノ度ヲ制シ［，略］強ハ弱ヲ制ス可ラス，之ヲ扶クヘシ，賢ハ愚 ヲ制ス可ラス，之ヲ暁スヘシ，富ハ貧ヲ制ス可ラス，之ヲ賙フへシ，是乃 チ，兩ラ相反スルノ理勢ヲ利用シテ，以テ天意ニ奉答シ，依テ以テ斯民社 交ノ和諧ヲ致シ，福祉ノ域ニ昇ラシムル所ノ例規ナリ25 We see here clearly that for Nishi, the Principles of the heart—a neu- tralizing force over natural laws—are necessary for a society to achieve a harmonious and beneficial state. Moreover, he thinks that the deliberate 25「. 人生三寳説」, chap. 7, naz i: 548.