- Ekken also spelled:
- Ekiken
- Original name:
- Atsunobu
- Born:
- Dec. 17, 1630, Fukuoka, Japan
- Died:
- Oct. 5, 1714, Japan (aged 83)
- Notable Works:
- âOnna daigakuâ
- Subjects Of Study:
- Zhu Xi
- Japan
- plant
- childhood
- Confucianism
- Neo-Confucianism
- women
Kaibara Ekken
Kaibara Ekken (born Dec. 17, 1630, Fukuoka, Japanâdied Oct. 5, 1714, Japan) was a neo-Confucian philosopher, travel writer, and pioneer botanist of the early Tokugawa period (1603â1867) who explicated the Confucian doctrines in simple language that could be understood by Japanese of all classes. He was the first to apply Confucian ethics to women and children and the Japanese lower classes.
He was originally trained as a physician but left the medical profession in 1657 to study the thought of the great Chinese neo-Confucian philosopher Zhu Xi (1130â1200), under the teachers Yamazaki Ansai and Kinoshita Jun-an. He became a highly popular teacher who traveled widely and kept such detailed accounts of his journeys that they were used by others following his routes. He is also considered the father of botany in Japan. His Yamato honzĆ (âJapanese Plantsâ) attracted the attention of many Westerners.
Kaibara wrote about 100 philosophical works in which he stressed Zhu Xiâs neo-Confucian conception of the hierarchical structure of society. In his Taigi roku (âGrave Doubtsâ), however, he took issue with the apparent dualism in Zhuâs work in favour of a single creative force. In his DĆji kun (âInstructions for Childrenâ), Kaibara tells parents to severely discipline their children, who must blindly and respectfully accept all that parents tell them, whether it is right or wrong. To Kaibara is usually attributed Onna daigaku (âThe Great Learning for Womenâ), long considered the most important ethical text for women in Japan, which advocates womenâs obedience to their parents, parents-in-law, husband, and, if widowed, to their eldest son. Kaibara, however, treated his wife, TĆken, to whom he was happily married for 45 years, on terms of equality. She was also a scholar, calligrapher, and poet, and it has been suggested that TĆken was the real author of his books.
