8/24/2016

Baba Bunko

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Baba Bunkoo, Baba Bunkō 馬場文耕 Baba Bunko
(1718 - 1759)
(享保3年(1718年) - 宝暦8年12月29日(1759年1月27日))



His real name was Nakai 中井, he also used the names 左馬次 and Bunzaemon 文右衛門.
He lived in the time of Shogun Yoshimune as a Ronin and spent some time in a temple. He also participated in 俳諧 Haikai poetry meetings.
Some of his work is called seijimono 政事物 "Political Writings".
- His most famous publications are
当世武野俗談
近代公実厳秘録
近世江都著聞集
名君享保録

He was executed at 小塚原刑場.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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Toodai Edo Hyaku Bakemono 当代江戸百化物 A hundred strange things in Edo
(とうだいえどひゃくばけもの)Todai Edo Hyaku Bakemono
"An Album of One Hundred Monsters"
(Toodai Edo Hyakkabutsu)
This essay is not about Yokai, or ghosts or spooks.
He describes the "monstrous people" of his times, from Samurai to merchants to doctors to Kabuki actors and more.
青山三右衛門, 山田由林, 中村七三郎, 鵜野長斎, 紙屋五郎兵衛 . . .
- Read all the names of the 27 people here:
source : izumikawauso.cocolog-nifty.com
宝暦当時江戸市中の噂に上った、人物を、士庶とりまぜて二十七名、二十三章に記述するものである

- English reference : Todai Edo Hyaku Bakemono -

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- quote
A Christian Samurai: The Trials of Baba Bunko
by William J Farge SJ




Although Japanese scholars have acclaimed Baba Bunko (1718-1759) as the most outstanding essayist and public speaker of the Tokugawa period (1603-1868). Western historians of Japan have long ignored him. This is because Bunko's very existence contradicts the historical narrative that they have constructed. According to that narrative, Christianity in Japan ceased to exist by 1640, except in small, scattered communities, centered mainly on the Nagasaki area.

Through a close critical analysis of Baba Bunko's often humorous, but always biting, satirical essays a new picture of the hidden world of Christianity in eighteenth-century Japan emerges - a picture that contradicts the generally-held belief among Western historians that the Catholic mission in Japan ended in failure. A Christian Samurai will surprise many readers when they discover that Christian moral teachings not only survived the long period of persecution but influenced Japanese society throughout the Tokugawa period.

Bunko's bold assertion that a representation of the Eucharist would be more appropriate as a symbol for Japan than the coat of arms of the emperor or the insignia of the shogun would eventually lead to his arrest, trial, and execution. The legal proceedings against him reveal the government's embarrassment at the failure of its attempts to eliminate Christianity.

This historical and literary study focuses on the personal as well as the public lives of many of the historical figures who were prominent in politics, philosophy, religion, and culture in the eighteenth century. The decadent state of Buddhism, the decline of Confucianism, and the popularity of the Yoshiwara "pleasure" quarters are some of the topics that illuminate this new history of early modern Japan and of the survival of Christianity.

The first complete English translation of Baba Bunko's Contemporary Edo:
An Album of One Hundred Monsters is included as an appendix.
- source : amazon.com

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- quote about "A Christian Samurai" -
Baba Bunkō (1718–59), a samurai from Iyo domain in Shikoku, set out in 1751 to begin a new life in the capital of Edo (now Tokyo) as a bureaucrat in the government of Tokugawa Ieshige (1711–61), the Japanese shogun... - snip snip-
1. Deus Restored
2. Tokugawa Christianity
3. Popular Games and Monster Stories
Gossip about the samurai class and rumors of scandal in the private lives of public officials were constantly circulating in the capital. Baba Bunkō took advantage of his listeners’ interest in the comings and goings...
4. Raindrops Falling in the Forest
The “monster” that attracted Baba Bunkō’s attention as no other was the daimyō 金森頼錦 Kanamori Yorikane. Between October and November of 1755, Kanamori had arrested more than five hundred peasants from...
5. Baba Bunko's Political and Social Dissent
Although censorship was enforced sporadically and was never very effective during the Tokugawa period, the bakufu did take measures to ensure that security would not be threatened. Officials kept a close eye...
6. The Decline of Tokugawa Neo-Confucianism
7. Baba Bunko's Literary Heritage
Modern Western historians have not included Baba Bunkō in their accounts of the Tokugawa period, except occasionally in passing or as a footnote. Perhaps this is because they consider Bunkō’s writings to be of...
8. Kabuki Actors, Monks, and Courtesans
The propensity of not a few samurai to become romantically involved with a male onnagata actor or with a courtesan of one of the “pleasure” districts did not go unnoticed. Bunkō speculates that their illicit liaisons...
9. The Breakdown of Social Order
10. The Christian Question
After Bunkō renounced his samurai status, resigned his government post, and began giving lectures criticizing various aspects of the prevailing culture of Tokugawa Japan, he turned to writing satirical essays and...
Contemporary Edo: An Album of One Hundred Monsters

- with PDF files to download from here:
- source : muse.jhu.edu/book -
Welcome to Project MUSE

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馬場文耕集 / 馬場文耕 (著), 岡田哲 (著) Okada Tetsu

Matsuzaki Gyojin Baba Bunko Muno Zokudan Baba Bunko Edo Chobun Shu
Buya zokudan (Secular tales in the martial field) by Baba Bunko, 1757)

- reference : baba bunko -

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The most extreme case was Baba Bunko (1718— 1759), the only writer throughout the entire Edo period to be executed for the crime of violating publication laws ...
- An Edo Anthology: Literature from Japan’s Mega-City,
Jones, Sumie, Watanabe, Kenji
- source : books.google.co.jp -


Baba Bunko (1718?-1758), for example, who was active during the 1750s, was savagely critical of contemporary political authority ...
- Edo Culture: Daily Life and Diversions in Urban Japan,
Matsunosuke Nishiyama, Gerald Groemer
- source : books.google.co.jp -


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