Yoshishi Taguchi, a famous Japanese researcher of Oriental thought.
I remember when I first came to Japan to study, when I visited the bookstore, I found that there were many books about oriental thought, most of which talked about how to use the wisdom of the ancient East to help modern business management, support you through life difficulties, overcome various troubles and so on. Some of them were also very popular, which made it very incredible to me who was addicted to Western philosophy at that time. At that time, the whole atmosphere of Chinese society was to speed up modernization, and many people did not have much good feelings about traditional ideology and culture. So I wasn't interested in seeing those books. I thought to myself, I am not a student of Traditional Chinese Studies, I really want to learn, I can read books by myself.
Later, I learned a little about Japanese Chinese studies, read some books written by scholars who are now also famous in China, and found that their learning was excellent, the standard of studying China was not worse than that in China, and the articles were well written. I am ashamed to say that although I read a lot of chinese texts in China, what really made me determined to develop the habit of reading ancient books was Yoshikawa Kojiro's "About Han Chinese", which is comparable to Zhang Zhongxing's "Wen Yan Jin". Although his major was not Chinese studies, he had been paying attention to the works on Chinese culture written by Japanese scholars since then, and he believed more and more that Miyazaki's words were very reasonable. Miyazaki once said in an article that what Japan can repay China in the future is the study of Chinese history. Of course, as far as the overall level of research in Japanese Sinology is concerned, it is certainly not limited to historiography.
Recently, a friend gave me two books written by Yoshishi Taguchi, a researcher of oriental thought, one about the late Edo thinker Yokoi Konan, and the other about Eiichi Shibusawa, the "father of Japanese capitalism." The former is one of the two contemporaries that I have previously written about, katsumi, an outstanding modern Japanese politician, and the latter is the protagonist of the 2021 NHK Dahe drama "Straight to the Blue Sky". Because this friend admired the author so much, I read it. After reading it, I feel that although it is not an academic way of writing, it is very distinctive and admirable, and I can talk about Eastern thought from today's perspective, and there is no bias that must use Eastern civilization to overwhelm Western civilization, but to maintain a balance of ideas and emphasize the integration of Eastern and Western wisdom. This field of folk oriental thought is a bit unfamiliar to me, and I have always heard that it is very influential on business and even politics, so I am very interested in learning about it. So I managed to get in touch with the author and offered to do an interview. Unexpectedly, Mr. Taguchi, who was busy, readily agreed, so he agreed on a time and did a two-hour online interview. This interview can also be said to be a very pleasant online chat, especially to be surprised to find several university students and outstanding people who like each other.
Dr. Yoshifumi Taguchi is the most representing Japanese scholar toshihiko Izutsu.
The accident of the documentary filmmaker
I've seen Mr. Taguchi's brief introduction before and know that he was a documentary filmmaker in his early years. So that's where the conversation begins.
Mr. Taguchi said that when he was 25 years old, he once went to Thailand to shoot a documentary. One morning, seeing two strong buffalo in the paddy field helping to thresh the threshing, the endless idyllic scenery was delightful, so the young director got off the bus to take pictures. At this time, the buffalo suddenly rushed over like a madman, and used its horn to lift up the unsuspecting Taguchi, which caused him to be seriously injured and even his internal organs were exposed. At first, the Bangkok hospital I went to did not dare to rescue, for fear of accidents. Later, after fighting, he finally saved his life. During the convalescence, a friend brought some books, such as the Analects and Lao Tzu, to relieve him of his boredom. Taguchi, who is now eighty years old, recalled that he did not feel anything about reading the Analects at that time, but Lao Tzu was fascinated, especially Lao Tzu's concept of death and life, which made him deeply understand, understand what life and death are, increase the courage to live, and fall in love with the book "Lao Tzu" from then on. He emphasized that he did not enter the world of Oriental thought from the perspective of learning, but read it from his hospital bed, as a spiritual nourishment to sustain his life, so that he understood it more truly and deeply. This was the starting point for Mr. Taguchi's keen interest in Oriental thought. He said that in retrospect, he still feels that entering the world of Oriental thought from Lao Tzu is a perfect opportunity.
After returning to China, he read more extensively, not only re-reading Lao Tzu, but also Zhuangzi. After reading the Taoists wanted to read Confucianism, they began to read Confucian classics, such as the Four Books and Five Classics, and also studied Buddhism. Because I had practiced zazen around the age of twenty, I started practicing zazen again. Mr. Taguchi said that these ancient Eastern ideas have been transmitted to Japan for many centuries, and have been well preserved in Japan, accumulating deeply, forming a unique tradition that is different from Western thought. In addition to these, of course, there is Also Japan's own Shinto tradition, which is within the scope of Mr. Taguchi's study.
In the year of his establishment, Mr. Taguchi ran his own company, worked as a financial manager who managed a bankrupt company, that is, a trustee, and saw many cases of business failure. Later, I wondered, can the Oriental ideas that have benefited them a lot can give them spiritual encouragement and help? He said: "When I started this job, I thought that my life had gained great benefits from Oriental thought, and I could not enjoy it exclusively, and I also wanted more people to know and benefit more people." Later, I felt that it should be especially understood by the leaders who run the company, because they can influence more people. Modern society is an economic society, so business operators should be helped to understand Oriental thought. ”
So he began to give lectures to the company's management on oriental ideas, which have a history of more than thirty years. Mr. Taguchi said that these traditional intellectual resources have benefited those who listen to the lecture, especially those who have failed in business to regain their strength and become spiritually stronger. At the same time, he also wrote many works introducing Oriental thought, translating such as lao tzu, Sun Tzu, and the "super translation" of the Analects, a word recently popular in Japan, meaning a more concise and easy-to-read translation than paraphrasing. Mr. Taguchi said that from his youth to the present, no matter how busy he is at work, he will read the classics of Oriental thought for about two hours a day, insist on it for more than fifty years, and recently there are still new realizations and gains.
Inspiration from Eastern thought
After listening to such an introduction, I wondered what was the biggest gain he had gained from teaching Oriental thought for so many years.
Mr. Taguchi said, "There are two points. First, Eastern thought emphasizes the overall ability of man and attaches importance to wholeness. For example, Zen Buddhism says epiphany, which is the state of mind that cannot be understood in ordinary states. There are still many unexplored areas in this regard, and people have incredible abilities to be developed, which is very interesting. For example, now that AI has emerged, people must develop this holistic ability and cannot lose to AI. Another point is that Eastern thought can help us understand the relevance of everything in the universe as a whole. If you start with ancient Buddhism, Eastern thought has been studied in this area for more than three thousand years. Similar to Jung's statement about synchronicity, there is a lot of discussion in the I Ching, in which the ancient wisdom of the East could be promoted to the well-being of all mankind if it could be extended. Today, some people call our time the 'Anthropocene' (Anthropocene), facing a deep environmental crisis, the problem of warming the earth, and even the problem of war, and Eastern thought can provide ideas to solve these problems. ”
Listening to such an explanation, I asked, how to use Eastern thought to make up for the shortcomings of Western thought? Mr. Taguchi said: "Western thought in modern times has obviously encountered a crisis, which has long been pointed out, that is to say, modern Western thought represented by Descartes and Newton has exposed its own problems. For example, last year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) made it clear in its latest evaluation that global warming is caused by human factors, saying that 'there is no room for doubt that 'human activities have led to the warming of the atmosphere, oceans and land'. This artificial origin, specifically the economic activity of capitalism, is of course the idea behind modern Western thought. It can be said that Western thought in modern times has led to the crisis of today's earth. In order to solve the problems brought about by modern Western thought, we can use Eastern ideas to complement each other. When I say this, there will certainly be people who will criticize me, saying that you are studying Eastern thought, and of course you will boast about yourself, but several Western scholars in different fields I have met also agree with my point of view, and they believe that eastern and western ideas should complement each other from a global perspective. Therefore, I advocate that the wisdom of the East and the West should be integrated, learning from each other's strong points. From the point of view of saving the earth and mankind, the Oriental thought that has been often overlooked and underestimated in the past two or three hundred years in modern times can contribute a lot of wisdom, and my mission is to contribute useful ideas from the perspective of Oriental thought. ”
The drawbacks of modern Western thought
In fact, the criticism of Western thought has long been incessant, as far away as Spengler's "The Decline of the West", and closer to us is "Dialectics of Enlightenment" co-written by the two managers of the Frankfurt School. In the Eastern world, we can also find the relevant discourse of Liang Rengong a hundred years ago. So I ask, specifically, what are the shortcomings of Western thought in the view of Mr. Taguchi in modern times?
Mr. Taguchi said that in his own opinion, it can be summarized into three points: "The first is the practice of concentrating on one point. For example, the development of the economy takes GDP as the only goal, which is from the yin and yang theory of Eastern thought, that is, there is only yang, no yin. Of course, there will be trouble in the long run. The other is rationality and efficiency. In the short term, it will work quickly and reasonably, but in the long run it may destroy the good traditions that humanity has cherished. The third point is the widespread use of analytics and professionalism. Take medicine, for example. There are experts in every organ, but experts lack knowledge of the whole body. Modern society emphasizes specialization, although it is important and needed, but after excessive subdivision, for example, in the company's operation, the person in charge of finance only knows finance, the person responsible for sales only understands sales, and everyone does not understand the overall operation of the company, which is not conducive to the company's operation, because the operation must have an overall vision. So Eastern thought helps us develop a holistic view. In short, there are countless experts now, but there are very few people who understand people and can see the overall situation, which is also a kind of ideological poverty, which is caused by a mechanical world view, and it should be said that this is also a limitation of modern Western thought. In response to this problem, the life-theory worldviews in Eastern thought can complement each other. From a practical point of view, if all countries put their own national interests first, then the whole world will be chaotic. Now that the earth is facing a major crisis, we also need to think holistically and have a long-term vision, which is crucial for the survival and development of mankind. Eastern thought originally attached importance to holistic thinking, so this kind of ideological resource that was originally despised may become an advanced idea now. ”
These words are really a blow to me, a person who has been studying Western philosophy for many years, and of course there will be some different views. I will ask: Your proposition is well understood in Japan, where modernization has been fully realized, but China is still in the process of modernization, and its understanding will be different. Of course, China has also encountered some problems brought about by modernization in the process of development. What do you think about that?
Yoshishi Taguchi's writings on Yokoi Konan.
Mr. Taguchi said that his suggestion is that we should know the problems caused by the comprehensive Westernization of modernization, and if we do not pay attention to it now, the next ten or twenty years will definitely cause big problems. That is to say, the more we develop according to the current model, the more we need to pay attention to the problems that this model will bring. Fortunately, China is the main birthplace of Eastern thought, so China's modernization can fully absorb the wisdom of Eastern thought, and there is no need to copy the West in its entirety. Taking Japan as an example, since the Meiji Restoration, modernization has been simply understood as Westernization, and the negative factors of Western-style modernization have also been inherited, which is also one of the reasons for World War II. Moreover, if we only carry out Western-style modernization, then we will never catch up with the West, and the result will be either Americanization or Westernization of the Asian stream, following in the footsteps of others.
Hearing this, I joked that if I had heard these words twenty or thirty years ago, I would have been very disgusted and not interested in listening to them, because at that time China had only just begun its modernization construction, and there was no sense of reality. Now that China's economy is developing at a high speed, environmental pollution and other issues have also attracted everyone's attention, and at the same time, it is found that the West itself, which is regarded as a teacher of modernization, has also exposed many problems, and it is difficult to idealize as before.
An excellent mind who can think about the general direction of the country
On the issue of Western modernity, Mr. Taguchi said that after the war, some people in Japan also proposed not to accept all the orders of Western modernity, but to treat modernity with the attitude of taking its essence and abandoning its dross, and the wisdom of the East and the West can be completely integrated. Especially if the Eastern countries forget their own treasures, he feels that it is a pity. Mr. Taguchi mentioned sakuma Xiangshan, a thinker at the end of the Edo shogunate, who put forward the slogan "Oriental morality, Western art" (art here refers to technology), which is very similar to Jano-dong's "middle school as the body, Western learning as the use". In The late masterpiece "Loyalty and Rebellion" by Maruo Maruyama, a major figure in the history of Japanese thought, there is also an interesting paper on how Sakuma cleverly used the concept of traditional Confucianism to absorb Western learning.
Mr. Taguchi also mentioned Yokoi Konan, a contemporary of Sakuma Xiangshan, saying that both Yokoi and Sakuma were the main figures in depicting the blueprint of the modern Japanese state, but unfortunately they were assassinated by those who opposed the reformation, resulting in Japan losing its excellent mind that could think about the general direction of the country. The earlier mentioned book about Yokoi Konan, on the cover, says that Yokoi proposed the path that modern Japan should take 150 years ago, which shows that Mr. Taguchi has a very high opinion of him. I can understand that Mr. Taguchi's evaluation is not an exaggeration when I think that The great writer Ango Sakaguchi called the greatest statesman of modern Japan, who was also deeply influenced by Yokoi Konan and listed him alongside Saigo Takamori as a world-class master.
Weakness of Eastern thought
As a person who is deeply influenced by Western studies, I have to ask a question that is a bit difficult to ask. I said, after listening to your discussion of the high theory of Eastern thought, then compared with Western thought, is there any shortcoming and weakness of Eastern thought compared with Western thought? Mr. Taguchi said with a smile that he has studied Oriental thought for more than half a century, and from the perspective of yin and yang, of course, there will be strengths and weaknesses. Western thought is very powerful in terms of universality, that is, universality is very powerful. In technical terms, it's powerful in modularization. As a method of inquiring into the study of truth, it can be used by both men, women and children. The most representative is the computer. Computers that used to be used by experts a long time ago have been miniaturized and can be used by ordinary people with the same performance, and the advantages of such Western learning require more learning in the East. What about Oriental learning in comparison? Mr. Taguchi said that he mentioned earlier that Eastern thought pursues the overall ability of man, and is more concerned with how to exert the overall ability of man. For example, when we look at the study of Zen Buddhism, it is actually very professional. Rather than understanding knowledge, it is more important to use the body to directly feel, and the body must be repeatedly practiced to master, so it is time-consuming to master. Mr. Taguchi said that he had studied for fifty years before he finally understood a lot, which was indeed a big shortcoming, so he paid attention to explaining it in a simple way when he lectured. From this point of view, the ideological and intellectual knowledge of the East and the West is indeed complementary. Not only complementary, Mr. Taguchi also added a sentence, saying that he wrote yokoi Konan said that there is no difference between heavenly reason, that is to say, heavenly reason does not distinguish things, and in the end it is unified, so reason and thought do not need to be divided into things in the end.
Yokoi Kogusu Yojo Kaishu
Hearing this, I mentioned Katsukai, who has great respect for Yokoi Konan. Because Katsukai-azu's masterpiece "Glacier Kiyoshi" is a must-have on my desk, I know that a samurai-born politician like Katsukai-sushi also emphasized the importance of complementarity between the East and the West during the Meiji Restoration, and did not advocate one-sidedness to the West, and he even criticized some aspects after the Meiji Restoration that were not necessarily better than in the Edo period. Hearing me mention Katsumi-ashi, Mr. Taguchi said that he was somewhat related to Katsukai-akuri. He said that when he was a child, he was often told by his parents that you have the blood of the sea boat in your body, you can't do this and that, you must study hard and make him feel so hard. Mr. Taguchi said that Yokoi Konan is also very worth translating and introducing to Chinese readers. He said: "Yokoi was a Zhuzi scholar, when the Western powers expanded into East Asia, Yokoi Xiaonan believed that this was both a duel of force and an ideological duel, a challenge of modern Western civilization to Confucian civilization. There were very few Orientals who held this idea at that time, right? So the question before the war is a question of ideological duel. Yokoi was a pacifist who opposed war and saw war as meaningless, emphasizing the duel of ideas. He believed that Eastern thought should be used to influence Western thought, because Eastern thought has such depth and breadth. Yokoi read the Book of Shang by carefully reading it word for word, and from there he summed up the word Tenri, which is the tenri that was mentioned earlier that does not distinguish things. Through reading the Book of Shang, he advocated the principle of heaven that can be applied to the whole earth, the East and the West, and such an idea is very enlightening for thinking about the problems of today's world and contributes to world peace. The 'law of the universe' that I use in books was inspired by him. Now that some countries emphasize the supremacy of their own country, Yokoi's ideas can help overcome that kind of nationalism. He also has a unique view of the relationship between Eastern and Western civilizations, and he very much hopes that Chinese readers will understand his ideas. ”
Toshihiko Izutsu, a Representative Japanese Thinker Noh
According to the questionnaire, the next question is to ask Mr. Taguchi to recommend several representative Japanese thinkers. At this time, Mr. Taguchi said a name that surprised me: Toshihiko Inobuchi (1914-1993) – just as I heard him say that he was related to Katsumi. Mr. Taguchi said that he had listened to Toshihiko Inobuchi's lessons, which made me envious. Because this was an unborn scholar, a master of eastern and western philosophical thought and the philosophy of language— Derrida called him a great master. Wellbore is not only proficient in Eastern and Western philosophies, understands about thirty languages, and has translated the Quran, but also participated in the famous Eranos conference and enjoyed a high reputation in the international humanistic thought community. Several of his books are included in the Iwanami Bunko Library. At the end of the last century, his collection of works was published at about the same time as Miyazaki's collection of works, and some critics say that it represents the end of japan's university era. Toshihiko Izumi is a master of mastery who combines the wisdom of the East and the West. It is said that his book of Sufism and TaoismーA Comparative Study of Key Philosophical Concepts shocked Western academic circles as soon as it was published. A few years ago, a scholar named Hans Thomas Hakl wrote a book on the Eranos Conference: An Alternative Intellectual History of the Twentieth Century, which also introduced the academic thought of Toshihiko Inoburu, saying that he was not only proficient in Eastern thought, but also familiar with Western philosophy, and was the best person to participate in the Eranos Conference. So when I heard Mr. Taguchi mention his name, I was as excited as if the joint code was on the right side. Among the modern Japanese oriental philosophers, Mr. Taguchi says that he most admires Toshihiko Inobuchi.
Mr. Taguchi spoke about wellbore's knowledge and took out wellbore's English writings, which is the same the Structure of Oriental Philosophy that Hansai also has, which is a collection of English papers published by Toshihiko Inoburu at the Eranos Conference. Mr. Taguchi said that he would like Chinese readers to read wellbore's works, and he stressed that wellbore represents the highest level of Japanese twentieth-century oriental thought research. As a reader of some of Toshihiko Inoburu's works and a thick monograph on his, I cannot agree more with this. If you want to find a university scholar in China who has the same kind of knowledge as Toshihiko Wellbore, you can probably cite Mr. Qian Zhongshu and Mr. Jin Kemu in the contemporaries, but in terms of breadth, I think that Wellbore surpasses these two scholars whom the author admires very much. Mr. Taguchi said that he had read wellbore's books, had a deeper understanding of Oriental thought, marveled at his vast knowledge, and said that he was a genius of language, read the original texts, had an endless desire for knowledge, had excellent insights, was admirable, and probably would not have such a scholar in the future. Mr. Taguchi recalls listening to a lecture on wellbore and saying that he had strung together a lot of thought and knowledge. For example, wellbore is a great person of Islamic civilization, but when he talks about Islam, he can mention the similarities between Islam and Buddhism, so listening to his lectures is very interesting, that is, a feast of thought and learning, which is a beautiful enjoyment, and now there is no such lecture. Another mr. Taguchi recommended the famous Suzuki Daisuke in China, who said that these two were the twentieth-century Japanese thinkers who gave him the most inspiration and lessons.
Learn about the classics of Japanese thought and culture
In addition to the above two modern masters, I also asked Mr. Taguchi to recommend several classics that can help Chinese readers understand Japanese thought and culture. One of Mr. Taguchi's recommendations is Se-Ami's "Tale of the Wind and Flowers", and the other is Okakura Tenshin's "Talking Tea". Se-Ami was a master of medieval Japanese ape music, and many works have been handed down, and "The Legend of the Wind And The Flower" is his theatrical theoretical work. Okakura's writings have been translated into a variety of Chinese, not to mention masterpieces that introduce Japanese culture. Mr. Taguchi said that reading these two books is very helpful for understanding Japan. Another thinker he would like to introduce is the medieval master of Buddhist thought, Daoyuan. Daoyuan came to the Southern Song Dynasty to take sutras, and his "Zhengfa Eye Collection" is an important classic in the history of Japanese Buddhism. In Mr. Taguchi's view, Michimoto is one of the important founders of the Japanese intellectual tradition. Although the world usually regards Domoto as the founding father of the Japanese Cho Dong Sect and the representative figure of Japanese Zen Buddhism, Mr. Taguchi said that Moto himself has never made such a distinction, saying that he is talking about Buddhism. Mr. Taguchi believes that in order to understand Japanese Buddhism, Michimoto is an important figure that cannot be bypassed. I remember that the Chinese-American scholar Fu Weixun also wrote About Yuan and attached great importance to his ideas. Mr. Taguchi said that although Suzuki Washuo was famous for his research on the Linji Sect, he was also deeply influenced by Michimoto.
Speaking of which, Mr. Taguchi asked me if I have readers in China of Bushido by Nitodo Inazō and Kenzo Uchimura's Representative Japanese? I said that the former already had a Chinese translation, and the latter did not seem to have one. By the way, Uchimura was Makoto Maruyama's teacher, the famous political philosopher Nanhara Shigeru's teacher of Christianity, and a figure who had a great influence on the development of modern Japanese thought and culture. Maruyama also has a thesis on Uchimura in Loyalty and Rebellion, which is also worth reading. Mr. Taguchi said that although Bushido and Representative Japanese need to be read critically, these two books are very helpful for understanding the outline of Japanese thought and culture, and they are very good works to read, and they are worth recommending to Chinese readers.
A Western thinker in Taguchi's eyes
After listening to Mr. Taguchi's introduction to the classic works of Japan, I also thought of a question, that is, Mr. Taguchi has studied and preached Oriental thought over the years, emphasizing the integration of Eastern and Western wisdom, so what Western thinkers have been influenced? Mr. Taguchi said: "There are too many, mainly Jung, Heidegger and Maslow. Jung was influenced not by Jung's study of the Orient, but by his analytical psychology. As for Maslow, it was his humanistic psychology. Maslow's psychology has positive research on human nature, such as his concept of "peak experience", which has a great impact on my understanding of human nature and is also one of the starting points for my thinking. Heidegger, on the other hand, was the Western philosopher who had the greatest influence on my study of Eastern thought. I think after reading Hai's works, I feel that Haishi is a very Oriental thinker. Therefore, how Western thinkers look at Eastern thought, the most representative is Heidegger. Speaking of which, I mentioned that Haishi had translated Lao Tzu with Xiao Shiyi, and Mr. Taguchi said that he also knew that it was a classic work for him on the enlightenment of Eastern thought.
To be honest, when I heard these three names, Jung and Heidegger were not too surprised, but I was surprised that Mr. Taguchi said that Jung's influence on him did not come from his thinking about Eastern civilization, but from analytical psychology. What I didn't expect was to hear Maslow's name, which reminded me of a Biography of Maslow and a psychological paper collected in "Human Potential and Value" that I had read many years ago. I told Mr. Taguchi that The Chinese translators have also introduced these three thinkers, all of whom have many readers, and Haishi is an enduring hit, just like Japan. Japan is the only country in the world other than Germany to publish Heidegger's complete works, and its research papers are even more abundant.
Looking at the table below, it had been more than two hours scheduled, and just as I was about to say goodbye, I remembered the last question. It is to ask Mr. Taguchi to recommend two Chinese classics to Chinese readers that he feels should be read. He said that two books had recently been published, one about the University and the other on the Book of Shang. Mr. Taguchi said that from the perspective of Japan, China has a long and rich civilization tradition, including the Four Books and Five Classics, which deserves to be re-read and examine our own traditions with new eyes. Because those classics are all about the fundamental truths of man, from today's point of view, the classics will be rejuvenated, and the ancient tradition will even become a very advanced thought. I said that recently there are many people in China who are interested in Sinology, and more and more people want to understand their own traditions, and your suggestion is very timely.
Impressions of Toshihiko Shigeitsu
Only two days after the end of the online interview, I received two new hardcover books sent by Mr. Taguchi: "Lecture Notes on the Book of Books" and "Studying Anthropology through the University", both of which are zhizhi publishing houses known for publishing works related to anthropology — a publishing house that has been established for nearly half a century and has also produced several books by the master management master Kazuo Inamori. Touched by the author's grand intentions, I immediately opened it to read. Seeing that the third lecture in the catalog of "Learning Anthropology through "University", "The Spirit of Restoration", has a subtitle titled "Taking the COVID-19 Epidemic As a Period to Reshape Learning and Adjust The Outlook on Life", I jumped to this section and read it. In this section, Mr. Taguchi writes that the new crown is raging and does not seem to have an end. But old sullenness is not a thing. He thought, maybe God let us study hard. So re-reading the classics of Oriental thought that I read when I was young, I actually gained a lot. Where I did not understand before, I understood it, my understanding deepened, and my mood was much happier. Therefore, in the period when you are asked to go out as little as possible, it is better to see it as a good opportunity to learn, and to read some classics that you usually do not have time to read. This passage also specifically mentions Yokoi Konan and Sakuma Xiangshan, saying that these two heroes who have pointed out the direction for modern Japan were actually stung and grounded for a long time in their lives, and it was during those frustrated periods that their knowledge and knowledge were greatly improved, and it can be said that the tribulations created them. It is indeed refreshing to talk about reading Confucian classics with the COVID-19 pandemic. This kind of reading classic reminds me of a point that Mr. Taguchi mentioned several times in the interview, that is, it emphasizes the use of living learning, and the source of living water should be used to read and do learning. In particular, such ancient learning as Oriental Thought should be tested in social practice, so as to avoid Oriental Thought from giving people a feeling of paleness, and only then can ancient thoughts glow with new life and help everyone think about modern problems and do the study of life.
Because of Mr. Taguchi's enthusiastic recommendation, I turned out Toshihiko Izumi's masterpiece "Toward the Depths of Meaning: Water Levels in Eastern Philosophy", which I had not read for a long time. There are some written about Derrida's Jewishness, and there are also about Zhuangzi's chaos, and the articles are tempting, and I don't know which one to read for a while, so I first read the first one, "The Modern Condition of Human Existence and Eastern Philosophy" (published in 1979), the original text is a long paper written in English. I haven't read the words of the wellbore for a long time, but I really have a grand vision and profound insights. Not only does it talk about the relationship between Eastern philosophy and modern physics, but it also uses the concept of Carl Popper's framework to talk about the structure of different civilizations, Gadamer's concept of horizon fusion, Thomas Kuhn's concept of paradigm shifting, and even the phenomenological sociologist Alfred Schultz's concept of the "everyday suspension" of the existential world appears naturally in his papers. Toshihiko Wellboru mentioned that due to the development of science and technology, globalization has also led to "homogenization" and "diversification", people have appeared in this process of self-alienation, serious or even loss of self, and Eastern philosophy since ancient times is to explore the problem of self-alienation as an important issue related to human existence, so in the face of the crisis brought about by modernity, the introduction of the oriental philosophical vision of the self can activate the energy of the dialogue between the East and the West, which is a very effective and extremely meaningful method. Almost in one sitting, after reading his article on the crisis of globalization more than forty years ago, I did not feel outdated, but felt very fresh. His knowledge is too vast for me to describe in detail here. After reading this article, I feel that I really confirm Mr. Taguchi's recommendation: Toshihiko Idaguchi represents the highest level of modern Japanese research on Eastern philosophical thought, and may provide new ideas for the problems of Eastern and Western civilization that have plagued us for more than a hundred years.
Before the King