Neo-Confucianism in Japan: Art, Society, and Unity

Introduction: Confucianism and Buddhism in Early Japan

When Neo-Confucianism arrived in Japan in the 16th century, it built on the pre-existing ideas of Confucianism that had already been imported into the island centuries earlier (Tsutsui 104). As far back as the 5th century, the Japanese had engaged with Confucian ideas about society and the role of the individual in the world. Confucian ideas taught the Japanese about what it means to be a moral person. However, the Japanese also incorporated Buddhist concepts into their culture — and these focused on the metaphysical side of nature and how to define reality (or unreality). These two systems of thought, along with Taoism, molded Japan for hundreds of years. By the time Neo-Confucianism arrived, the Japanese were ready to address the issues that these schools had left unresolved. Buddhism presented life as essentially unreal, with nirvana as the true reality. Confucianism taught values about society and how to respect life, but it did not provide satisfactory answers to some of life's deeper questions (Reid 19). Neo-Confucianism served to reconcile these differences in Japan by affirming reality as real and virtue as part of one's duty.

Prince Shotoku Taishi (6th–7th century) created the 17 Article Constitution for Japan. It was built on principles from both Confucianism and Buddhism. Confucianism provided the ideals that Japanese people should strive to achieve — such as the gentleman ideal — while Buddhism provided the ethical structure for society. In this way, the Japanese established their culture as a composite of two philosophical frameworks that governed the behaviors and social mores of the people for hundreds of years.

Around one thousand years later, during the Tokugawa period in Japan, the ethical systems promoted by Taishi needed revitalizing. This is when Neo-Confucianism came into being in Japan — a philosophy that offered definitive answers to questions about the nature of the world and the role of the individual in society. It resolved questions such as whether reality actually existed (according to Neo-Confucianism, it did) and strongly appealed to the samurai in Japan.

Zhu Xi was responsible for bringing Neo-Confucianism to Japan. He was Chinese and lived during the 12th century AD. Japanese monks who had visited China in the 15th century AD learned his teachings and returned to Japan to spread the ideas of Neo-Confucianism. They led the revival of this kind of thought at a time when the country was in great need of direction following years of intense internal conflict.

Neo-Confucianism was a positive force in Japan at this time because it promoted unity among the three main philosophies of Asia — Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism (Tucker 495). Prior to its arrival, it was not apparent how these three philosophies could coexist, even though two of them had been used by Taishi to form a Constitution so many years before. The Japanese referred to the unity that Neo-Confucianism gave to the people as Sankyo, translated into English as the "Three Religions." The union of these three religions, supported by Neo-Confucian philosophy, helped to unify Japan both culturally and socially.

Confucian Artwork in Japan: The Three Compositions

The "three" aspect of Sankyo was incorporated into Japanese art to celebrate the unification of the three religions in Japanese culture under Neo-Confucianism (Stunkel 17). Three types of composition recur in this tradition: the picture of Sankyo, or the Three Patriarchs; the Sansan-zu, or Three Sages Tasting Vinegar; and the Kokei Sansho, or Three Laughers of Tiger Ravine. Each of these compositions is described below.

Figure 1. Close-up of the "Three Patriarchs: Confucius (hat), Buddha (curled hair), and Lao Tzu (white-haired elder)." By Hasegawa Tousetsu (1539–1610), at Egawa Museum, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan.

In the painting of the Three Patriarchs, Buddha appears in the middle, Lao Tzu on the right, and Confucius on the left. The three are huddled together, representing a philosophical triumvirate that united Japan in the 15th–16th centuries, thanks to the Japanese monks who traveled to China and encountered Neo-Confucianism. Artworks like this were painted in the 16th century to commemorate the cultural patrimony these three philosophers represented for the Japanese. This picture appears at the bottom of a scroll that hangs in Hyogo Prefecture. It was originally painted by the Japanese Zen priest Josetsu for the Ryosokuin Temple in Kyoto.

In the painting of the Three Sages Tasting Vinegar, a symbolic element is evident in the construction of the portrait. Confucius is again represented on the left and is painted in a manner that shows him concerned with rules and proper conduct. The Buddhist is depicted in the middle as controlled, practicing denial and generally unmoved; and Lao Tzu is on the right showing a good nature that is appreciative, harmonious, and naturally light. The vinegar represents life and nature — and the Three Sages are gathered around it, each offering his own approach to it.

Figure 2. Three Sages Tasting Vinegar: Confucius, Buddha, Lao Tzu; Muromachi Period, by Keison, Fukaji Temple, Shizuoka Prefecture.

In the painting of the Three Laughers at Tiger Ravine, the same "three" depiction is employed. The figures represent Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. Those depicted are the poet Tao Yuanming, the Taoist Lu Xiujing, and the Buddhist Huiyuan. The poet and the Taoist go to visit the Buddhist, who lives as a hermit and has sworn never to cross back over the bridge that spans the Tiger Ravine. Yet when the two visitors depart, he walks with them to the river, and the three become so immersed in conversation that the Buddhist crosses the bridge without realizing it. When they discover what has happened, all three begin to laugh. The depiction carries symbolic meaning: the poet represents the rules and strict adherence to law characteristic of Confucianism; the Buddhist represents Buddhism and renunciation; and the Taoist represents the Tao.

Figure 3. Three Laughers at Tiger Ravine, by Chuan Shinko (mid-15th century). Tokyo National Museum.

The bridge represents the "way" to the other shore of life, and the three walking it together represents the idea that no single philosophy alone is sufficient to reach the other side — instead, all three must go together. This is what Japan celebrated about Neo-Confucianism: it reconciled the different philosophies and showed that they could fit together for the benefit of society (Huang 300).

These three works of art are pre-modern and come from the Muromachi and Edo periods of Japan (approximately 1400 to 1850). The togetherness of the three philosophers reflects the ecumenical doctrine of the Neo-Confucian standpoint.

In Josetsu's Three Patriarchs, the three founding figures of Japan's main religious beliefs — Confucius, Lao Tzu, and Buddha — are brought together. Separately, they did not advance the aim of unity in Japan. It was thanks to the Constitution of Prince Shotoku Taishi that two of the main religions were combined to help move Japan forward as a unified state. However, many years passed and this union fell apart through in-fighting among various regions of Japan. A new vision was needed to bring the people back together. This vision was found in Neo-Confucianism, which held that apart, each of the philosophers and religious founders would drive the Japanese people away from one another — but together they could bring the people under one roof. Each of the three could offer a view of life that was respectable and respected by the others, and each would in its own way say something meaningful about the world and about how the individual should view it. It is this vision that is united in Josetsu's painting in the Temple in Kyoto.

At Fukaji Temple hangs Keison's painting of the Three Sages Tasting Vinegar. In this painting, the three characters represent the Three Patriarchs, but they are also characters from the tale behind the painting's title. The tale is as follows: one day, Su Dongpo (a Chinese poet) and Huang Shangu went to a temple to seek Foyin the monk. Foyin brought wine out for his guests. It was supposed to be sweet wine, but when all three tasted it simultaneously, they were shocked to find it bitter. The poet, his friend, and the monk are like the characters in the Three Laughers — also a poet, his friend, and a monk — and they represent the three belief systems that came to Japan and helped develop its culture. The artist Kaihou Yuushou, like Keison, produced a painting of this narrative for the Myoushinji Temple in Kyoto in the 16th century. The popularity of this subject matter among monks reflects the impact of the arrival of Neo-Confucianism in Japan, which the Zen monks had brought back with them from China. It helped to express the need for unity in Japan.

Conclusion: The Legacy of Neo-Confucianism in Japan

The statue below stands in a Chinese-style garden park in Tottori, Japan. It reflects the immense impact that Chinese culture has had on Japan, especially in the form of Confucianism. China gave Japan much food for thought: from the mainland came Confucianism, Buddhism, and the teachings of Lao Tzu — all of which were combined in the doctrine of Neo-Confucianism that Zen monks brought back to Japan from their studies on the mainland.

What Confucianism gave to Japan was a system of law, order, respect, veneration, and duty that appealed to various groups throughout the state. The concept of veneration appealed to the aristocracy, who wished to honor their ancestors by bringing tablets and altars into their homes for ritualistic acts of commemoration. In this manner, the Japanese in the pre-modern era were deeply connected to those who had come before them and were mindful of the honor they felt compelled to show their forebears. The warrior class was another group that admired Confucius, who represented for them the scholarly-warrior type — the philosopher-fighter whose mind was as formidable as his martial skills. They admired his discipline, his reason, and his deep sense of loyalty, which was central to the master-servant relationship within which the warrior class operated.

The monks of Japan also appreciated Confucius for his discipline and sense of virtue. He was a moral man with moral teachings that appealed to their sense of justice, fairness, and right and wrong, and he gave them an ideal to live for. They also appreciated Neo-Confucianism as it came from China, with its recognition of the good aspects of Buddhism and Taoism and its vision that the three main religions of Japan could unite to form a triumvirate of philosophical thought. This admiration is evident in the artwork created by Japanese monks in the Edo period following the arrival of Neo-Confucianism. Thanks to these artworks, Confucius became a celebrated thinker once more and helped to reunite Japan at a time when it was fracturing from internal conflict.

Figure 7. Confucius Statue at Encho En Park, Tottori, Japan.

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