Empowering Popular Fiction: The Ironic Reinterpretation of Confucianism in the Fiction of Kyokutei Bakin

Abstract

(This dissertation includes previously published material.)In my dissertation, I investigate the seemingly paradoxical relationship between the hierarchical, state-endorsed Confucian ideology imported from imperial China and the iconoclastic, popular literature of Edo Japan. Although the Tokugawa shogunate implemented Confucianism to reinforce social order from above, I argue that Kyokutei Bakin (1767-1848), a renowned popular writer whose audience consisted of people from various classes, reinterpreted and appropriated this ideology in his fictional works as a means of critiquing and resisting governmental oppression. Previous scholarship on the literary exchange between Edo Japan and Imperial China has primarily focused on the influence of Chinese vernacular novels in terms of themes, plots, and terminology, while often neglecting the transference and reinterpretation of Chinese philosophical thought. My interdisciplinary research addresses this gap by bridging the fields of literature and philosophy. This transnational and multilingual approach reveals how the seemingly rigid framework of Confucian thought was adapted and transformed into a literary tool for questioning social hierarchies and challenging authority. The core of my research examines how Bakin’s works critique Confucianism by systematically deconstructing its prescribed top-down social order–beginning with the higher-level legitimacy of the ruler, moving to the secondary-level obligation and righteousness of the samurai class, and finally addressing the personal-level filial piety and chastity. Chapter I outlines this overarching structure, while Chapter II analyzes the concept of legitimacy in Kaikan kyōki kyōkakuden (Lives of the gallants: Read them and wonder, 1832-1835). The novel’s multifaceted portrayal of legitimacy through characters from diverse positions challenges and resists a singular, monolithic interpretation of the concept. Chapter III, part of which has been published in Studies in Japanese Literature and Culture, investigates the kyōaku (gallant) archetype, debunking the myth that a righteous person has to devote himself to serve the ruler. The portrayal of virtuous kyōkaku as protectors of the oppressed reflects societal anxiety over disorder and the collective yearning for justice. Chapter IV focuses on the portrayal of a dokufu (“poisonous woman”) character in Shinpen Kinpeibai (New Edition of the Plum in the Golden Vase, 1831-1847), uncovering how filial piety and chastity can function as tools of oppression. Ultimately, I conclude that Bakin’s works amplify the voices of marginalized individuals, emphasizing their agency in reinterpreting state-endorsed ideologies and constructing their own identities