was a leading academic in the Kaitokudo academy tradition of scholarship. He was the younger son of

Nakai Shuan Nakai may refer to: People * Nakai (surname) * In botany, an abbreviation for author Takenoshin Nakai Places * Nakai, Kanagawa, Japan * Nakai District, Laos * Nakai Misl, former principality of the Punjab Region Others * Nakai (Japanese vocati ...

(1758 d.), one of the Kaitokudo's two founding leaders, and was influenced by his teacher and mentor Goi Ranju. His intellectualised way of being led to continued engagement with but physical separation from the Kaitokudo. Much is made of his demeanor reflecting his. Often stated as analogous to his floating calligraphic style Riken was vastly different in demeanour to his brother

Nakai Chikuzan was a leading academic in the Kaitokudō academy tradition of scholarship. He was the first son of Nakai Shuan (d. 1758), one of the Kaitokudō's two founders, and was influenced by his teacher and mentor Goi Ranju (五井蘭洲:1697-1762). He bec ...

, although their underlying epistemologies, beliefs and degree of tenacious individualism were similar. They both furthered the work of Goi Ranju and consolidating previous thought around the Kaitokudo school, bringing a level of prestige to the academy. Like his brother Chikuzan, Riken wholeheartedly denounced

Ogyū Sorai (March 21, 1666 – February 28, 1728), pen name Butsu Sorai, was a Japanese Confucian philosopher. He has been described as the most influential such scholar during the Edo period Japan. His primary area of study was in applying the teachings ...

and contended that all people have potential, to the extent that "even" commoners could become scholars, while he also denounced religion and superstition. However, Riken’s particular strain of the dismissal of ''dreams'', and the unverifiable led him to dabble in astronomy, most notably with

Asada Goryu was a Japanese physician and astronomer who helped integrate western and Japanese astronomy in the Edo period. He introduced several western astronomical instruments and methods into Japan and independently confirmed Kepler's third law. Asada w ...

. Riken’s scholarship was far broader and is often perceived to transcend the specific question of reconciling the virtue of merchants with contemporary perceptions of merchants.

Legacy

Nakai Riken wrote extensive commentaries on the three of the

four books The Four Books and Five Classics () are the authoritative books of Confucianism, written in China before 300 BCE. The Four Books and the Five Classics are the most important classics of Chinese Confucianism. Four Books The Four Books () are C ...

Analects The ''Analects'' (; ; Old Chinese: '' ŋ(r)aʔ''; meaning "Selected Sayings"), also known as the ''Analects of Confucius'', the ''Sayings of Confucius'', or the ''Lun Yu'', is an ancient Chinese book composed of a large collection of sayings a ...

Doctrine of the mean The ''Doctrine of the Mean'' or ''Zhongyong'' is one of the Four Books of classical Chinese philosophy and a central doctrine of Confucianism. The text is attributed to Zisi (Kong Ji), the only grandson of Confucius (Kong Zi). It was originall ...

and

Mencius Mencius ( ); born Mèng Kē (); or Mèngzǐ (; 372–289 BC) was a Chinese Confucianism, Confucian Chinese philosophy, philosopher who has often been described as the "second Sage", that is, second to Confucius himself. He is part of Confuc ...

. He rejected other works as unreliable ''dreams'', largely due to their unverifiability. In these works, he dismissed the book of changes, the book on Songs and the book of history as unreliable, and further

the book of rites The ''Book of Rites'', also known as the ''Liji'', is a collection of texts describing the social forms, administration, and ceremonial rites of the Zhou dynasty as they were understood in the Warring States and the early Han periods. The ''Book o ...

and the spring and autumn annals as unreliable or of authorship different from the received interpretation. However, his lasting legacy was in reaching a point of contradiction between the demand for verifiability in the Kaitokudo school and the reliance on the reading of text as history.Najita (1987) The influence of Nakai Riken, as well as Nakai Chikuzan and other contemporary moral philosophers outside the mainstream of Neo-confucianism, shingaku and

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

can be seen most immediately and concisely in the work of

Yamagata Banto Yamagata may refer to: Places Japan *Yamagata Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region on Honshu island **Yamagata, Yamagata, the capital city of Yamagata Prefecture **Yamagata Airport (IATA code GAJ), an airport located in Yamagat ...

. It is said that Chikuzan has ongoing and great influence on his thought, but that Riken was more heavily involved in the final push toward publication of Yamagata’s work ''

yume no shiro is the Japanese word for dream, and may refer to: People *, Japanese rugby sevens player *, Japanese actress *, Japanese rugby sevens player *, Japanese gravure idol and actress *, Japanese professional footballer Entertainment *YuMe, a multi- ...

'' .

List of publications

*『華胥国物語』 *『四茅議』（恤刑茅議・均田茅議・攘斥茅議・浚河茅議） *『通語』 *『有間星』 *『遺草合巻』 *『越俎弄筆』 *『華胥国新暦』 *『顕微鏡記』 *『史記雕題』 *『中庸錯簡説』 *『中庸懐徳堂定本』 *『中庸断』 *『中庸雕題』 *『中庸雕題略』 *『中庸天楽楼定本』 *『中庸逢原』 *『詩雕題』 *『毛詩雕題附言』 *『論語雕題』 *『論語雕題略』 *『論語逢原』 *『荘子雕題』 *『孟子雕題』 *『孟子雕題略』

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakai, Riken 1732 births 1817 deaths 19th-century Japanese philosophers Japanese academics Japanese atheists 18th-century Japanese philosophers Japanese writers of the Edo period Scholars of ancient Chinese philosophy