was a Japanese scholar of ''

Kokugaku ''Kokugaku'' ( ja, 國學, label= Kyūjitai, ja, 国学, label= Shinjitai; literally "national study") was an academic movement, a school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Tokugawa period. Kokugaku scholars worked t ...

'' active during the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

. He is conventionally ranked as one of the

Four Great Men of Kokugaku The Four Great Men of Kokugaku (國學の四大人, ''Kokugaku no shitaijin'' or ''Kokugaku no shiushi'') are a group of Edo-period Japanese scholars recognized as the most significant figures in the Kokugaku tradition of Japanese philology, rel ...

(nativist) studies.

Life

Norinaga was born in what is now Matsusaka in Ise Province (now part of

Mie Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture and Kyoto Prefectur ...

). His ancestors were vassals of the

Kitabatake clan The Kitabatake clan was a clan that ruled south Ise Province in Japan and had strong ties to the eastern provinces through Pacific sea routes. Among its leaders included Kitabatake Tomonori. Clan heads # Kitabatake Masaie (1215–1274, founder ...

in Ise Province for many generations. However, in the early

they abandoned their

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They ...

status, changing their surname to Ozu, and relocated to Matsusaka, where they became cotton wholesalers. The family initially prospered and had a store in Edo as well. (The film director Yasujirō Ozu was a descendant of the same line). After his elder brother's death, Norinaga succeeded to the Ozu line. At one stage he was adopted out to a paper-making family but the bookish boy was not suited to business. It was at his mother's suggestion that, at the age of 22, Norinaga went to

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the c ...

to study medicine. In Kyoto, he also studied Chinese and Japanese

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as ...

under the neo-Confucianist Hori Keizan. It was at this time that Norinaga became interested in the Japanese classics and decided to enter the field of ''

kokugaku ''Kokugaku'' ( ja, 國學, label= Kyūjitai, ja, 国学, label= Shinjitai; literally "national study") was an academic movement, a school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Tokugawa period. Kokugaku scholars worked t ...

'' under the influence of

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

Keichū (1640 – April 3, 1701) was a Buddhist priest and a scholar of Kokugaku in the mid Edo period. Keichū's grandfather was a personal retainer of Katō Kiyomasa but his father was a ''rōnin'' from the Amagasaki fief. When he was 13, Keichū left ...

. (With changes in the language, the ancient classics were already poorly understood by Japanese in the Edo period and texts needed philological analysis in order to be properly understood.) Life in Kyoto also instilled in the young Norinaga a love of traditional Japanese court culture. Returning to Matsusaka, Norinaga opened a medical practice for infants while devoting his spare time to lectures on '' The Tale of Genji'' and studies of the '' Nihon Shoki'' (''Chronicles of Japan''). At the age of 27, he bought several books by Kamo no Mabuchi and embarked on his Kokugaku researches. As a doctor, he reassumed his ancestral samurai surname of Motoori. In 1763, Norinaga met Mabuchi in person when the latter visited Matsusaka, a meeting that has come down in history as ‘the night in Matsusaka’. Norinaga took the occasion to ask Mabuchi to supervise his annotations of the ''

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...

'' ("Records of Ancient Matters"). Mabuchi suggested that Norinaga should first tackle the annotations to the ''

Man'yōshū The is the oldest extant collection of Japanese (poetry in Classical Japanese), compiled sometime after AD 759 during the Nara period. The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's poetic compilations. The compiler, or the last in ...

'' in order to accustom himself to the ancient

kana The term may refer to a number of syllabaries used to write Japanese phonological units, morae. Such syllabaries include (1) the original kana, or , which were Chinese characters ( kanji) used phonetically to transcribe Japanese, the most ...

usage known as the

man'yōgana is an ancient writing system that uses Chinese characters to represent the Japanese language. It was the first known kana system to be developed as a means to represent the Japanese language phonetically. The date of the earliest usage of thi ...

. This was the only meeting between the two men, but they continued to correspond and, with Mabuchi's encouragement, Norinaga later went on to full-fledged research into the ''Kojiki''. Norinaga's disciples included Ishizuka Tatsumaro, Nagase Masaki, Natsume Mikamaro, Takahashi Mikiakira and Motoori Haruniwa (Norinaga's son). Although overshadowed by his activities as a ''kokugaku'' scholar, Norinaga spent 40 years as a practicing doctor in Matsusaka and was seeing patients until ten days before his death in 1801.

Works

Norinaga's most important works include the '' Kojiki-den'' (''Commentaries on the Kojiki''), made over a period of around 35 years, and his annotations on the ''Tale of Genji''. Using the methods of ''kokugaku'' and ''

kaozheng Kaozheng (; "search for evidence"), alternatively called ''kaoju xue'' (; "evidential scholarship") and Qian–Jia School (), was a school and approach to study and research in the Qing dynasty of China from about 1600 to 1850. It was most prominen ...

'', Norinaga claimed that the ''Kojiki'' was the oldest surviving Japanese text. He used the supposed antiquity of the ''Kojiki'' to develop an idea of indigenous Japanese religion and laws which were later used in the development of an idea of

State Shinto was Imperial Japan's ideological use of the Japanese folk religion and traditions of Shinto. The state exercised control of shrine finances and training regimes for priests to strongly encourage Shinto practices that emphasized the Emperor a ...

. Norinaga took the view that the heritage of ancient Japan was one of natural spontaneity in feelings and spirit, and that imported Confucianism ran counter to such natural feelings. He criticized Ogyū Sorai for his over-valuing of Chinese civilization and thought, although it has been pointed out that his philological methodology was heavily influenced by Sorai's. His ideas were influenced by the Chinese intellectual

Wang Yangming Wang Shouren (, 26 October 1472 – 9 January 1529), courtesy name Bo'an (), art name Yangmingzi (), usually referred to as Wang Yangming (), was a Chinese calligrapher, general, philosopher, politician, and writer during the Ming dynasty ...

, who had argued for ''innate knowing'', that mankind had a naturally intuitive (as opposed to rational) ability to distinguish good and evil. Hitherto scholars of ancient literature had shown a preference for the grandness and masculinity of ''Man'yōshū'' poetry and an aversion to works like the ''Tale of Genji'', which were regarded as unmanly and feminine. Norinaga resurrected the position of the ''Tale of Genji'', which he regarded as an expression of '' mono no aware'' (concept related to ''

magokoro is a principle known in Japan related in particular to the origin of the country, the . It has also been described in Japanese literature. Motoori Norinaga (1730–1801) devoted about 35 years of his life to the elaboration of a Commentary (Koj ...

'' which Kamo no Mabuchi also spoke about)'','' a particular Japanese sensibility of "sorrow at evanescence" that Norinaga claimed forms the essence of Japanese literature. Each man, according to Motoori, has at his birth a "true heart" a "magokoro" (the term ''magokokoro'' is itself almost an onomatopoeia since ''kokoro'' (the heart) expresses these "beats of the heart") whose ancient Japanese literature is the most faithful expression'. In undertaking his textual analysis of ancient Japanese, Norinaga also made vital contributions to establishing a native Japanese grammatical tradition, in particular the analysis of

clitic In morphology and syntax, a clitic (, backformed from Greek "leaning" or "enclitic"Crystal, David. ''A First Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics''. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1980. Print.) is a morpheme that has syntactic characteristics of a ...

s, particles and auxiliary verbs. As part of this research, Norinaga would initially discover Lyman's Law of '' rendaku,'' preceding the naming of which in honor of its later proponent,

Benjamin Smith Lyman Benjamin Smith Lyman (11 December 1835 – 30 August 1920) was an American mining engineer, surveyor, and an amateur linguist and anthropologist. Biography Benjamin Smith Lyman was born in Northampton, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard Uni ...

, by some 100 years.

Timeline

* 1730 - Born as second son * Education: ** At the age of seven could already read and write ** 11 years old reciting Noh theatre pieces and

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...

classics ** 13y. visiting the shrine of Yoshino ** 16y. archery ** 18y.

Japanese tea ceremony The Japanese tea ceremony (known as or ) is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of , powdered green tea, the procedure of which is called . While in the West it is known as "tea ceremony", it is se ...

** 19y. advanced Confucian training * 1748 - Norinaga is adopted by the Imaida family, reversed after only 2 years. * 1751 - His stepbrother dies. * 1752 - Goes to

to study medical science * 1752–57 - Some scholars note his productivity. Motoori produces 2000 ''Waka'' and 40 books and copies 15 others. * 1757 - Reads Kamo no Mabuchi's first book, ''Kanji kō''. Lacking money he returns to his hometown to open a medical practice. * 1760 - Enters arranged marriage with Murata Mika; divorced after 3 months. * 1762 - Marries Kusubuka Tami and one year later their son Haruniwa is born. * 1763 - Meets Kamo no Mabuchi who tells him to read the '' Nihonshoki'' and the ''

'' * 1764–71 - Studies the ''

'', and begins to spread his teachings. * 1799 -

Motoori Ōhira was a scholar of Kokugaku, and was the successor to Motoori Norinaga's school master. His pen name was Fuji no Kakitsu (藤垣内). Life Ōhira was born in Matsuzaka of the province of Ise (now Matsuzaka City in Mie Prefecture). He was a son ...

became his adopted son. * 1801 - Dies.

Motoori Norinaga Former Residence

The former residence of Motoori Norinaga was constructed in 1691 as a retirement retreat by his grandfather, Ozu Sanshiemon Sadaharu. Originally located in the Uomachi neighborhood of Matsusaka, it was relocated to its present site within the grounds of

Matsusaka Castle was a Japanese castle (now in ruins) located in the city of Matsusaka, Mie Prefecture, Japan. Throughout most of the Edo period, Matsusaka Castle was a secondary administrative center for the Kishu-Tokugawa clan, ''daimyō'' of Kishū Domain. It ...

in 1909. Motoori Norinaga lived from age 12 to his death at age 72. When Norinaga was 11 years old, his father, Ozu Sadatoshi Sanshiemon, died. His brother-in-law, Ozu Sogoro Sadaharu, took over the business, but the Ozu family's luck gradually began to decline. The following year, Norinaga was forced to move to the retreat built by his grandfather, together with his mother, one of his younger brothers and two younger sisters. Norinaga then lived in this house until his death at the age of 72, except for seven years when he studied medicine in Kyoto when he was young. After the death of his brother-in-law, Norinaga succeeded the Ozu family, but stopped doing business. He worked as a town doctor using this house as a clinic, while he worked on the study of Japanese classical literature, and wrote the "Kojikiden," and other works. When Norinaga was 53 years old, he remodeled the storeroom on the second floor to create a new study. He hung a bell (''suzu'') on a pillar between the floors of his study and named this study "Suzunoya". His descendants continued to live in this house until the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

; however, as the new

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji ...

gave increasing prominence to his works as the basis of

and ''

'' studies, a movement arose to preserve the structure. In 1909, it was relocated to the grounds of Matsusaka Castle and effort has been made to preserve the interior as closely as possible to the time when it was used by Norinaga. In 1953, the structure and the site of Uomachi before the relocation were designated as a Special National Monument. Portions of the building are open to the public as part of the . Motoori's writing studio on the second floor contains some examples of original manuscripts. The museum houses many artifacts that are protected as Important Cultural Properties of Japan, of which only a small portion is on display at any time.

Grave of Motoori Norinaga (Mount Yamamuro)

After Motoori died, he was buried on the summit of Mount Yamamuro behind the temple of Myōraki-ji in Matsusaka. The grave was situated to overlook the town on Matsusaka, and the hills of Mikawa and

Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highest ...

in the distance across

Ise Bay is a bay located at the mouth of the Kiso Three Rivers between Mie and Aichi Prefectures in Japan. Ise Bay has an average depth of and a maximum depth of . The mouth of the bay is and is connected to the smaller Mikawa Bay by two channels: ...

and is inscribed with a poem from the ''

''. The site was designated per detailed instructions left in his will, and Motoori had visited the site before his death to plant flowering mountain sakura trees and to design the layout of his tomb; however, the scenery around it has been drastically altered since that time with the construction of the Yamamuroyama Jinja

Shinto shrine A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The ''honden''Also called (本殿, meanin ...

in 1875. Beside his tomb is a memorial cenotaph to his masters,

Hirata Atsutane was a Japanese scholar, conventionally ranked as one of the Four Great Men of Kokugaku (nativist) studies, and one of the most significant theologians of the Shintō religion. His literary name was , and his primary assumed name was . He also ...

and Uematsu Arinobu. The tomb and its surroundings were designated a National Historic Site in 1936. The current grave was extensively renovated in 1999. Motoori Norinaga has a second tomb at the Motoori clan cemetery in the temple of Jukyō-ji in downtown Matsusaka. This tomb, along with that of his son Motoori Harunaga, was collectively designated a separate National Historic Site in 1936.

References

External links

about Motori Norinaga

Norinaga Commemorative Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Motoori, Norinaga Kokugaku scholars 19th-century Japanese philosophers Linguists from Japan Japanese writers of the Edo period 1730 births 1801 deaths Japanese Shintoists People from Mie Prefecture 18th-century Japanese poets 18th-century Japanese philosophers Historic Sites of Japan Special Historic Sites Museums in Mie Prefecture