Chapter 2: The Development of Matsumoto Nobuhiro’s Ideas on Southeast Asia in
2. The influence of Japanese scholars on Matsumoto’s study of ethnology
2.3. The influence of Japanese historians on Matsumoto’s study of ethnology
Kawai’s and Yanagita’s influence on Matsumoto’s ethnology was most significant.
However, Matsumoto could adopt an ethnological approach to history because some of his
teachers, such as Kato Shigeshi (1880-1946) and Hashimoto Masukichi (1880-1956), were
influenced by cultural evolutionism in their historical research and researched ancient culture.
Originally, Matsumoto chose to study history because he admired the personality of Tanaka
Suiichiro (1873-1923), the head of the department of history at Keio University, who was
famous for his research of Oriental history.154 However, Tanaka was not concerned with ancient
history to the degree that Matsumoto was. Therefore, Matsumoto followed Kato and Hashimoto
who were lesser-known researchers of Oriental history.
In general, historians in Matsumoto’s era were believers in Social Darwinism. For
example, Hashimoto framed his lecture on the ancient Orient with the theory based on the
survival of the fittest by arguing that although peace is an ideal for human life, it can never be
completely attained because wars are inevitable since they serve as “a trial of the survival of the
fittest.”155 Therefore, Matsumoto’s teachers of history were followers of Darwinism which
emphasized the differences between the peoples in contrast with Matsumoto’s belief in
universalism. Nevertheless, Matsumoto and his teachers in history shared the theory of cultural
154 Itō, Seiji, “Matsumoto Nobuhiro – ‘Nampōsetsu’ no kaitakusha,” Bunka jinruigaku gunzō, Nihonhen (3), Akademia shuppankai, Kyōto, 1988, p. 227-228. “Matsumoto Nobuhiro to gakumon,” Keiō gijuku daigaku gengo kenkyūjo hōkokushū, Keiō gijuku daigaku, dai 24 kan, 1992, p. 13.
155 Hashimoto, Masukichi,Tōyōshi kōza ikki, Jitaiko gokanmatsu, Ji taiko, Kokushi kōshūkai, 1926, pp. 1.
evolutionism that there were stages in the cultural evolution of various peoples.
Thus, Matsumoto received cultural evolutionist influence from his teachers in history:
Kato Shigeshi and Hashimoto Masukichi. For example, Matsumoto’s teacher in Oriental history
Hashimoto Masukichi pointed out the importance of Oriental history from the perspective of
cultural evolution. In his lecture on ancient Oriental history, he wrote: “...only when we clarify
the history of the people of the Asian genealogy which was neglected in contrast to the history of
the people of the European genealogy, that a larger reality can be seen, where we, the Asian
people are also involved in the cultural development of the world…”156 Hashimoto taught
Matsumoto about China not only in the classroom, but also on a school trip to Korea, Manchuria
and China in summer 1918.157 Further, Matsumoto studied the development of Chinese culture
in Kato Shigeshi’s classes of history on Chinese society.158 Since the study of the Chinese
history demanded the use of the Chinese documents, Matsumoto developed his attachement to
the ancient Chinese writings as the sources on Chinese culture under Hashimoto’s and Kato’s
guidance. For this reason, he later considered the Chinese-written Vietnamese documents to be
important for the study on Vietnamese culture.
The influence of Hashimoto’s and Kato’s teaching on ancient Chinese history appears in
156 Hashimoto, Masukichi,Tōyōshi kōza ikki, Jitaiko gokanmatsu, Ji taiko, Kokushi kōshūkai, 1926, pp. 3-4.
157 Ine-fune-matsuri: Matsumoto Nobuhiro sensei tsuitō ronbunshū, Rokkōshuppan, 1982, p. 693. Itō, Seiji,
“Matsumoto Nobuhiro – ‘Nampōsetsu’ no kaitakusha,” Bunka jinruigaku gunzō, Nihonhen (3), Akademia shuppankai, Kyōto, 1988, pp. 228.
158 Kawakita, Nobuo, “Keiō gijuku daigaku bungakubu kyōin tantō kamoku ichiran,” Shigaku, dai 60 kan, dai 2/3 gō, Mita Shigakkai, 1991, pp. 362-363. Matsumoto, Nobuhiro, Matsumoto Nobuhiro shinpen zakki, Matsumoto Chie, 1982, p. 40.
Matsumoto’s writings. Concretely, Matsumoto wrote four papers on the ancient Chinese culture:
his graduation thesis “The Research of the Family in Ancient China,” “The Family in Ancient
China and Totemism,” “Ancestor Worship of People in Ancient China” and “Research of the
Shrine and the Millet” in the early 1920s.159 It seems that Matsumoto was inspired by Kato’s
lectures on the history of Chinese society when he wrote these papers since Matsumoto
mentioned that Kato’s lectures provided him with many materials on Chinese society for his
graduation thesis.160
Masukichi’s and Kato’s opinions appeared in Matsumoto’s graduation thesis “The
Research of the Family in Ancient China.” Matsumoto discussed them as a part of the existing
research on the family (姓) in ancient China.161 He mentioned Hashimoto’s theory that the
institution of the family (姓) had appeared in China in order to distinguish between the tribes due
to differences in the customs, languages, etc. Furthermore, Matsumoto brings up Kato’s theory
on the institution of the family (姓). This theory was developed in order to clarify kinship
relations in a large kinship group formed by many hamlets.162 However, Matsumoto criticized
the detailed discussion of his teachers as “insufficient” and “too abstract.”163 Since Matsumoto
159 Matsumoto, Nobuhiro, “Shina kodai seishi no kenkyū,” Mita hyōron, dai 3, 4, 5 gō, Mita hyōron hakkōjo, 1921, pp. 411-452. “Shina kosei to tōtemizumu,”Shigaku, dai 1 kan, dai 1 gō, 1921, dai 2 gō, Mita shigakkai, 1922, pp. 453-490. “Kodai Shina minzoku no sosen saishi,”Shigaku, dai 1 kan, dai 4 gō, Mita shigakkai, 1922, pp. 49-71. “Shashoku no kenkyū,” Shigaku, dai 2 kan, dai 1 gō, Mita shigakkai, 1922, pp. 493-513.
160 Matsumoto, Nobuhiro, “Shina kodai seishi no kenkyū” (1921), Tōa minzoku bunkaronkō, Seibundō shinkōsha, 1968, p. 451, Note 1.
161 Ibid, pp. 417-425.
162 Matsumoto, Nobuhiro, “Shina kodai seishi no kenkyū” (1921), Tōa minzoku bunkaronkō, Seibundō shinkōsha, 1968, pp. 417-418.
163 Ibid, pp. 418-419, 424.
adopted ethnological theory of exogamy in his thesis,164 it is obvious that he gave preference to
ethnology in historical research. Therefore, the role of Matsumoto’s teachers of history was
introducing Matsumoto to evolutionist theories related to Chinese ancient history which were
discussed together with ethnological theories since ethnology in this period was evolutionist
ethnology.
Another of Masukichi’s and Kato’s contribution to the formation of Matsumoto’s ideas
on primitive culture was that they introduced works of Western Sinologists to Matsumoto.
Among them, Matsumoto was fascinated especially by the ideas of French Sinologists Édouard
Chavannes (1865-1918) and Marcel Granet (1884-1940) who in turn, received influence from
evolutionist ethnologist James George Frazer since Frazer was also active in the French
academic circles.165 Matsumoto’s interest in Chavannes’ and Granet’s work also suggests that
Matsumoto preferred ethnological approach in historical research.
The references made in Matsumoto’s writings in the early 1920s showed that Matsumoto
drew from Chavannes’ monumental books The Memoirs of Sima Qian (1895) and Mount Tai
(1910). The Memoirs of Sima Qian contained the translation of the Chinese classical book The
Records of the Grand Historian (史記) and Chavannes’ commentary to it. Mount Tai examines
164 Ibid, p. 424, 440-450.
165 “Frazer, James George”Alumni Cantabrigienses: A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900, compiled by J. A. Venn, Part II, Volume II, Cambridge the University Press, 1944, p. 570-571. Yanagita Kunio praised Frazer’s wife after meeting Frazer in Switzerland. (Yanagita, Kunio, “Ethnology to ha nanika” (1926), Teihon Yanagita Kunioshū,dai 25-kan, Chikumashobō, 1964, p. 235.)
the history of Chinese cult worship practiced at Mount Tai. From The Memoirs of Sima Qian,
Matsumoto used Chavannes’ definition of the family (姓) as a large family system in his
graduation thesis “The Research of the Family in Ancient China.”166 Furthermore, Matsumoto
adopted Chavannes’ ideas on Chinese religious thinking from Mount Tai (1910) in his papers
“The Research of Mount Tai” and “Research of the Shrine and the Millet.” Thus, Matsumoto
used Chavannes’ works as a source for his ethnological papers on the primitive culture in ancient
China.
From Granet’s works, Matsumoto was significantly influenced by the bookFestivals and
Songs of Ancient China (1919).167 As Chavannes’s student, Marcel Granet performed research
on ancient China. However, he focused on the sociological phenomena since he was also a
disciple of sociologist Émile Durkheim.168 Therefore, he believed in the common cultural basis
of different races and he hence mentioned also about Southeast Asian customs. Among others,
Granet paid attention to the mating customs: “The plays of love songs are of general use in the
majority of aboriginal populations of Southwest China and Tonkin, and in Tibet, they have
existed in the ancient Japan.”169 Matsumoto picked up Granet’s idea connecting the seasonal
166 Matsumoto, Nobuhiro, “Shina kodai seishi no kenkyū” (1921), Tōa minzoku bunkaronkō, Seibundō shinkōsha, 1968, p. 412.
167 Granet, Marcel,Fêtes et chansons anciennes de la Chine, second edition, Librarie Ernesy Leroux, Paris, 1929 (first edition 1919).
168 Matsumoto, Nobuhiro, “Furansu ni okeru Shina kenkyū,” Shina kenkyū Keiō gijuku Mochidzuki Kikin Shina kenkyūkai-hen, Iwanamishoten, 1930, pp. 386-389. “Granet, Marcel,” Encyclopedia of religion, second edition, Macmillan Reference USA, Detroit, 2005, pp. 3654-3655.
169 Granet, Marcel,Fêtes et chansons anciennes de la Chine, second edition, Librarie Ernesy Leroux, Paris, 1929 (first edition 1919), p. 146.
festivals with the Japanese custom of utagaki (love songs banquet)170 in his paper “The
Mountain Legends in Fudoki”: “In ancient Sukhotai Land, single men and women freely choose
their spouse, and after living one year together, they were permitted to freely decide the course of
their action. Considering the above mentioned examples,utagakiwas not simply a habit that was
practiced only in ancient Japan, but was discovered to be practiced among many uncivilized
men.”171 Thus, Matsumoto adopted Granet’s argument that the custom like the Japanese custom
ofutagakiis typical for primitive people including Southeast Asian peoples.
In summary, Matsumoto studied cultural evolutionist theories, which shared common
traits with ethnology, from his teachers in history, Kato Shigeshi and Hashimoto Masukichi. This
was because cultural evolutionism also formed the theoretical framework for the historical
research. Owing to Kato‘s and Hashimoto’s guidance, Matsumoto also developed his habit of
using Chinese writings for the research of ancient Chinese culture. However, Matsumoto did not
accept his teachers’ arguments in his graduation thesis and he applied an ethnological theory for
exogamy. In addition, Kato and Hashimoto introduced Matsumoto works by French Sinologists
Edouard Chavannes and Marcel Granet who were influenced by evolutionist ethnology in their
research of ancient Chinese culture. From Chavannes’ works, Matsumoto adopted namely
Chavannes’ interpretation of the Chinese religious beliefs. From Granet’s ideas, Matsumoto paid
170 Utagaki(歌垣) is an ancient Japanese custom associated with fertility and celebrating the beginning of spring and autumn. Japanese peasants would gather together on the tops of mountains to sing, dance, eat and drink. Songs and poems from utagaki were recorded in the collectionManyōshū(cca 759).
171 Matsumoto, Nobuhiro, “Fudoki ni arawaretaru santake densetsu,” Tōkōkō, II, Keiō gijuku taiikukai sangakubu nenpō, Shuppan kagaku sōgō kenkyūjo, 1920, p. 38.
attention namely to the mating customs of the primitive people which were preserved among the
contemporary primitive people of Southeast Asia. Thus, Matsumoto’s teachers in history
mediated Matsumoto some ideas of the French scholars on China and Southeast Asia.