Chapter 26 The Sophistication of Hagyu Sorai

The master of the Japanese school of ancient Chinese diction, he thoroughly read the limited books at home in a remote village in his youth. Hagyu Sorai was a well-known Sinologist in the Edo period in Japan. His father, Hagyu Hohiro, was a doctor who worked under Tokugawa Tsunayoshi.When Tokugawa Tsunayoshi rose to become the fifth shogun of the shogunate, Hagyu Yoshihiro was considered disloyal and was exiled to a remote village in what is now Chiba Prefecture, Japan.At that time Ogyu Sorai was fourteen years old, and there was no school at all; he had no books, no teachers, no classmates, and there was only one decent book at home, Daxue Yanjie (written in a Japanese pseudonym, used to explain one of the four Chinese books, " University").

In a barren and lonely environment, Sorai began to thoroughly read the limited books at home. When he encountered something he didn’t understand, except for his frustrated father, he had no teacher to ask for advice, so he had no choice but to recite what he had read from beginning to end. Book.After reciting it fluently, because there was no other book to read and nothing to do, I had to read the same book again. After writing "University Proverbs" straight and silently, I was still idle, so I wrote it horizontally again. I wrote it silently once, and it really reached the point where I can memorize it fluently and recite it backwards.

He stayed like this for ten years in the country.At the age of twenty-five, his father was finally pardoned, and the family returned to Edo.At this time, Zuo Lai not only had the ability to read the original Chinese classics, but also had a keen sense and interest in the subtle changes in literature due to thorough intensive reading.His Sinology strength soon overwhelmed the scholars in Edo at that time, and soon became the founder of the Japanese School of Classical Words. Natsume Soseki, a modern Japanese writer, also had a deep knowledge of Sinology.When he was a child, he didn't like playing with other children very much, and he only read his favorite books quietly.In an essay on "Memories" in his later years, he said: When I was a child, I went to the library of the church and devoted myself to copying the "Ten Strokes in the Garden" written by Xilai. Now I hope that I can repeat the scene at that time in my lifetime.

Natsume Soseki's taste in Sinology was deeply influenced by Sorai. Their deep foundation was built on the repeated study of a few classics, and thus became a generation of masters. Although learning should be like a pyramid, broad and high should be possible, but broad and deep are often not compatible. Although deep learning does not necessarily have to be difficult, it is necessary to be quiet.