International Social Science Journal (Chinese Edition)

No.3, 2025

 

 

Wang Li

 

The Japanese scholar Yasui Sokken is acclaimed as “the great synthesizer of Edo-period Jugaku (Confucian Studies).” His representative work in the field of Shangshu studies, Shosetsu Tekiyō (Excerpts of Commentaries on the Shangshu), was published in 1925. This treatise extensively incorporates the achievements of Qian-Jia evidential scholars. Notably, Yasui did not disregard the commentary attributed to Kong Anguo. However, Yasui’s methodology and scholarly style differ considerably from those of his Chinese counterparts. First, the major debates that characterized Chinese classical studies are not explicitly reflected in his writings, though his approach still aligns with Han-Tang Old Text scholarship. Second, although engaging with Qing scholarship, Yasui did not consciously apply the precise philological methods characteristic of Qian-Jia Evidential Scholarship, whether in historical-textual criticism or linguistic analysis. Third, navigating between Song Learning and Qing Learning, Yasui achieved a distinctive balance. His approach was ultimately guided by the aim of recovering the original context and meaning of the classical text itself. This commitment likely constitutes the true essence of his “Ancient Learning” (Kogaku).