Written in the hand of Hayashi Razan
Early Edo period (17th century)
Important Art Object
The Homma Museum of Art Collection
Hayashi Razan (also known as Dōshun, 1583-1657) was a Confucian scholar who studied under Fujiwara no Seika and served four shoguns, starting with the Tokugawa dynastic founder, Ieyasu.
This document is a section from the Analects of Confucius, being a detailed explanation by Razan explicating Chapter 24 of “The Practice of Government, no. 2”. The important parts of each chapter are first explained, followed by quotes from the Chinese classics such as The Zuo Zhuan and The Mao Commentary. All of this allows for a word-by-word, detailed explanatory structure.