富永仲基与日本“东洋学”的起源

Tominaga Nakamoto and the Origin of Japan’s Oriental Studies

日本18世纪前期的学者富永仲基在《翁之文》尤其是《出定后语》中,以理性的学术研究,改变了以往以"信仰"为前提基础的日本佛学与儒学的基本格局。他从儒学介入中国文化,由佛学介入印度文化,又把印、中、日三国进行比较分析,以"幻""文""绞"(质)三字概括三国的不同特点,同时提出了"加上说"及"言有三物五类"等一套理论方法,使日本学术史从国别研究进入了亚洲区域研究及"东方学"领域,并且在东方三国综合研究的基础上,提出了"诚之道",来综合东方三道,使得日本的儒学、佛学由信仰的体系而转换为学问的体系。富永仲基对东方传统文化既有理性的分析批判,也有自觉的认同与继承,是近代前期日本第一个有着自己明确方法论的学者,其研究成为近代东洋学和现代东方学的滥觞或源头,产生了深远影响。

Tominaga Nakamoto,a Japanese scholar of the early 18 th century,changed the basic pattern of Japan’s Buddhist and Confucianist studies with his books Shutsujō Kōgo( Words after Enlightenment) and Okina no Fumi( The Writings of an Old Man). In the former book,based on his analysis of Chinese culture in terms of Confucianism and Indian culture from the viewpoint of Buddhism,he compared Indian,Chinese and Japanese culture and summarized their characteristics with the words"fanciful","elegant"and "simple"respectively. In the meantime,in combing through the development of Buddhism he put forward a set of key concepts in relation to his research methodology,extending his domain from country-specific studies to Asia regional studies and finally Oriental studies. In the latter book,he used the concept "makoto",roughly meaning"practicing the good",to synthesize the Way of the three nations. His study transformed Japanese Confucianism and Buddhism from a system of belief to an academic field. Despite his rational analysis and criticism of the traditional oriental culture,Tominaga consciously identified with it and inherited it. As the first scholar in early modern Japan who developed his own research methodology,Tominaga is the trailblazer of Oriental studies.