Fukuzawa & Japan
Heaven never created a man above another nor a man below another. Therefore when men are born, Heaven's idea is that all men should be equal to all other men without distinction of high and low or noble and mean, but that they should all work with body and mind, with dignity worthy of the lords of creation, which they are, in order to take all things in the world for the fulfillment of their needs in clothing, food, and dwelling, freely but without obstructing others, so that each can live happily through life (Autobiography 391). This most quoted of Fukuzawa's sayings is one of his many expressions in order to reach out to the Japanese people since he considered the human being as the most sacred and responsible of all statuses. Having been recognized as a man well informed on Western Civilization, Yukichi Fukuzawa wished both to promote the "new knowledge" of the West and to elevate the moral standards of men and women of his land to make them absolutely worthy of a civilized nation. As a result, Fukuzawa believed that Japan could acquire national wealth and power only if it grasped and absorbed the basic ideals of "civilization" from the Western example through encouragement of learning to revolutionize his peoples ideas f
Yet I feel as though my second and greater ambitionhas been attained, for everything that I had hoped for and prayed for hasbeen realized through the benevolence of Heaven and the virtues of thoseforebears. He suggests that the people need to be enlightened of what constitutes a highly civilized nation. Instead he attempts to teach them a different perspective. He does not reject the closed minded attitude that some of his people share which suggests that their nation is the only one in the world. The subjects of the books in which Fukuzawa said an individual should study from are geography, natural philosophy, history, economics, and ethics. Moreover, the government of the new age proved itself dauntless in applying the new thoughts by going beyond what was recommended in his Seiyo Jijo (Things Western) book. However, it cannot remain content with its stage of semi-development. In addition, in the Jitsugokyo it is said, "if a man does not study, he will have no knowledge. They must progress through stages by planning great accomplishments for the Kelley 2future and commit themselves entirely to their realization to attain a modern civilization status. Fukuzawa promotes this idea to prevent his people from ignorance and illiteracy. What Fukuzawa is saying here to his people is that if they want to become a greater nation, they need to open their eyes to the world around them by learning different cultures. Yukichi Fukuzawa claims that civilization is an "open-ended process". Therefore, whatever we have in excess we should give to them.
Common topics in this essay:
Japan Fukazawa,
Yukichi Fukuzawa,
,
Jijo Western,
China Japanese,
yukichi fukuzawa,
civilized nation,
encouragement learning,
foolish people,
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