| NOTA |
(★)(Fukuzawa Yukichi [1835-1901], Meiji Japan´s leading interpreter of Western civilization, is known primarily for his role as educator. In this collection of 35 selected works, we hear the words of a philosopher and writer, immensely popular in his day, on the many educational questions that confronted his modernizing country : from practical matters like school and dormitory regulations, subjects of instruction, and textbooks to more fundamental issues like moral education, the promotion of utilitarian and scientific education over traditional Confucian teachings, and the relationship between the government and academia. Fukuzawa was a prolific writer as well as the publisher of a daily newspaper,´Jijishimpoo´, and through his writing and speeches he became arguably the most influential person in Meiji Japan outside of government service. Fukuzawa chose to contribute to his country´s quest for modernization and Westernization as a private citizen, and he remained the government´s sharp critic throughout his life. As can be gleaned from these selections, independence and self-respect were values that he championed, and he imposed upon himself the task of serving as a model for his fellow citizens of the values he believed his country should adopt. The selections in this volume come from a wide range of sources : prefaces and chapters from his books and translations, editorials from ´Jijishimpoo´, speeches made to students and alumni of Keioo Gijuku, the school he founded, and essays and letters to his chidren and friends. Besides being primary sources on the thinking of a major intellectual far ahead of his times, they also serve as a social commentary on a confusing and turbulent period when the past was being rashly discarded in favor of an uncertain future. Eiichi Kiyooka, a specialist in the English language, and Kazuyoshi Nakayama, a specialist in educational history, are both professors emeriti at Keioo University.) |
BASE de DATOS, Biblioteca del Centro Cultural de la Embajada de Japon
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