The Singaku of Kumazawa Banzan and the World of Japanese Sinocentrism

This paper explores how Banzan Kumazawa integrated mind–learning grounded in Yangmingism and Zhu Xi's philosophy, while also associating it with the mind–learning transmitted through the ancestral spirit of the imperial family. Banzan expanded the mind–learning method into the Divine Way of the Great Void and the Divine Way of Heaven and Earth, and incorporated filial piety into its content. The mind–learning method based on filial piety ultimately converged with the mind–learning method handed down by the imperial family. The mind learning emphasized by Banzan reflects principles of ancient Shinto. Banzan understood Japanese Shinto as a world of pure goodness and made it the foundation of the five–relationship order. The divine country of Japan emphasized by Banzan became a new world of Sinocentrism supplanting China.