- This is a catchphrase from http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000296/files/47061_29420.html by Fukuzawa Yukichi. This is sometimes used as an argument that “people are equality,” but that is not Fukuzawa Yukichi’s intention.
Summary of the first two paragraphs of the study
- Heaven is not made above mankind, nor man beneath mankind
- But if you look at the human world at large, there is as much disparity as clouds and mud.
- The difference between the wise and the foolish comes from learning or not learning.
- A person who does difficult work is a person of heavy status. A person who does easy work is a person of light status.
- If one’s status is heavy, one’s house is rich. Although this may seem out of reach to those of lower status, the difference was originally made by the ability to learn. It was not decreed by the heavens.
- People are not born noble or lowly, rich or poor. Those who learn and know things well become noble and wealthy, while those who are uneducated become poor and lowly.
In other words, he is not saying “the world today is equal” or “it should be equal.” He is saying, “The world today is unequal, but it is a difference made by the ability to learn.” It is, as the title says, a “study guide.
You can read it in the Aozora Bunko: http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000296/files/47061_29420.html
Summary Continued
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I’m not talking about the impractical literature of knowing difficult letters or composing poetry.
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We should put those fruitless studies next and learn practical science first.
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Two are equal
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3
- Countries are equal
- an independent nation with its own interests at heart
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4 Academician’s position
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5,6 Talk for intellectuals
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7 The office of the citizen
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8 Rejection of Confucian hierarchical relationships
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9 Two types of purposes of study
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10 Continued from 9
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11 8 continued
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12
- advance a speech
- ambition
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13
- Grudges are not good
- Freedom of speech is important.
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14
- Long-term planning and inventory
- Supervision and protection go hand in hand.
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15
- scepticism
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16
- Protecting Independence
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17
- How to gain recognition from others
TODO I’ll write a little more about it later.
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