Buddhist Priests and Writing Schools for the Common People in Early Modern Japan : A Case in Iyo Province(<Special Issue>Religious Education and Transmission)

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  • 近世僧侶の庶民教育へのかかわり : 伊予国の手習塾を中心に(<特集>宗教の教育と伝承)
  • 近世僧侶の庶民教育へのかかわり--伊予国の手習塾を中心に
  • キンセイ ソウリョ ノ ショミン キョウイク エ ノ カカワリ イヨノクニ ノ テナライジュク オ チュウシン ニ

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Abstract

The terakoya (tenaraijuku) is known as private schools in the Edo Period that taught reading, writing, and arithmetic for children of mainly farmers, merchants, and ordinary townspeople. This paper explores the roles of Buddhist priests in the development of the terakoya and tries to clarify the characteristics of priests as teachers and intellectuals in villages and towns, referring to a case in Iyo province (present day Ehime Prefecture). The results of this study are as follows. 1) Buddhist priests made up over 30 percent of the total of 1215 teachers of the terakoya in Iyo province. Both warriors (samurai) and Shinto priests, regarded as the educated class of the day, made up only around 15 percent. The ratio of the number of Buddhist priests was highest among that of all classes. 2) There was one temple which created and operated the terakoya for every two or three temples. 3) Basically, every Buddhist priest had the experience to learn at their head temple or its attached college for several years. In most sects their head temples were located in big cities like Kyoto, Nara, and Edo and these were the central cities of culture and learning. The experience gave Buddhist priests the authority as not only religious leaders but also as teachers and intellectuals, and distinguished them from the common people. Terakoya literally means "temple school." But indeed they were not necessarily operated by just Buddhist priests. Whatever the case, Buddhist priests fulfilled an important role in education for the common people in the early modern society of Japan.

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