Neoconfucian Influence in the shaping of Japanese National Identity during Isolationism

V času vladavine Tokugaw so bili neokonfuncijanci cenjeni dvorni svetovalci, to pa je tudi obdobje postopnega vznika japonske nacionalne identitete. Ta identiteta še ni oblikovana, v večji meri niti ni jasno zastavljena, temveč se še razvija. Pomembno vlogo pri tem so odigrali konfucijanski pogled na propad kitajske dinastije Ming leta 1644 ter razni konfucijanski in nekonfucijanski kritiki neokonfucijanstva, ki so se vsak na svoj način vedno bolj skušali vračati k tistemu, kar so sami videli kot edino pravo in avtentično japonsko. Kar se je začelo z enim konfucijancem, ki ga je Tokugawa Ieyasu vzel na svoj dvor in ga oblekel v budističnega meniha, je v stoletju in pol pripeljalo do državnega aparata, ki je vedno bolj cenil meritokracijo in dajal vedno manj poudarka na plemiško poreklo. A skozi čas je bilo očitno, da so vse reforme stremele k temu, da bi se vrnile v neko zlato dobo, ki je nikoli ni zares bilo, temveč so jo zgodovinarji in filozofi umetno ustvarjali skozi čas. Posledično pa se je izkristalizirala tudi ideja o japonski nacionalni identiteti.During the rule of Tokugawa dynasty, Neoconfucianists were valued court advisers. This was also the time of gradual emergence of Japanese national identity. This identity was not yet formed, not even clearly set, but still in development. An important part in its development payed the Confucian view on the decline of Chinese Ming dynasty in 1644, and various Confucian and non-Confucian critics of Neoconfucianism, who each in his way always strived to return to what they perceived as the only real and authentic japanese. What started with a Confucianist Tokugawa Ieyasu took to his court and dressed as Zen-Buddhist monk, in a century and a half resulted in a state apparatus that more and more valued meritocracy, and less and less heredity. But as time passed it became apparent that all the reforms strived to return to a Golden age, that never truly was, but was instead a creation of historians and philosophers. This culminated in the formation of Japanese national identity