ІНТЕРПРЕТАЦІЯ ЯНМІНІЗМУ В ПІЗНІЙ ТВОРЧОСТІ МІСІМИ ЮКІО

Abstract

The article is devoted to the interpretation of the teachings of the great Chinese philosopher Wang Yangming (1472–1529) and his Japanese followers in the late works of the prominent Japanese writer and thinker Mishima Yukio. It is reflected in the novel “Runaway Horses” (1966–1968) and the essay “Yangmingism as a revolutionary philosophy” (1970). Dissatisfaction with the current state of Japanese society, in particular Westernization, led Mishima to think about the need for revolution. Reflecting on the philosophical heritage of the past, Mishima concluded that only Yangmingism, though a doctrine of Chinese origin but with a long tradition in Japan and successfully assimilated by Japanese culture, could be the philosophy of the future revolution. In analyzing Wang Yangming’s ideas, Mishima relied heavily on the research of the philosopher Inoue Tetsujiro (1855–1944). Mishima was not interested in Wang Yangming’s Chinese followers, but instead paid considerable attention to the Japanese school of Yangmingism (oyomeigakuha). He singles out three of its representatives: Oshio Heihachiro (1796–1837), Saigo Takamori (1828–1877) and Yoshida Shoin (1830–1859). Misima managed to create an original interpretation of Yangmingism, which he set out in his essay “Yangmingism as a revolutionary philosophy”. Misima considers Yangmingism in the context of his own development of the “philosophy of action”, and therefore the idea of the unity of knowledge and action comes to the fore. In his interpretation, Yangmingism has an emphatically irrational, mystical character, which he describes using Nietzschean notions of “Dionysian” and “active nihilism.” Thus, its interpretation could be called Nietzschean. In addition, in interpreting the key philosophical categories of Yangmingism – knowing the good and the Great Void – Mishima uses terms borrowed from Indian philosophy, not from Buddhism, but from the Upanishads (namely, Brahman and Atman).