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Document Analysis:

Great Learning for Women by Kaibara Ekken

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Kaibara Ekken (1630-1714), born to the family of advisors, was a neo-Confucian scholar

and natural scientist who served the Kuroda rulers of Fukuoka empire of Kyushu, the southern

island. Kaibara Ekken was absorbed to progressing the Confucian morals and was exceptional

for his open easy to understand writings which he wrote in native Japanese as opposed to in hard

to understand the academic dialect. Ekken's literature writings entailed issues covering

appropriate values for rulers, warriors, the young, families, and most importantly the ladies. In

Onna Daigaku which is a Japanese title for “The Great Learning for Women,” Kaibara

proposes

and supports a firm code of conduct for women, especially married women (mothers), and even

the little girls especially in agreement with the neo-Confucian scholarly conventionality of the

Japanese cultural values

Kaibara Ekken is a 17th-century neo-Confucian author, and so is his work on The Great

Learning for Women (Onna Daigaku). The theme covered by the author, which involves how

women are supposed to conduct themselves in marriage and to concern their husband, is argued

from the Japanese cultural perspective. This then places the setting of the book to Japan where

the Japanese culture thrives. Having this two limitation, i.e., the cultural and context constraints

affects the meaning of this document or rather a journal. First, the teachings are therefore the

theories postulated in there are relevant only to the 17th century way of life and may not apply to

the contemporary society

. Secondly, the source is fixed to the Japanese culture. In as much as

Kaibara Ekken. 2005. Excerpts from The Great Learning for Women (Onna Daigaku) Columbia University Press.

2005.

SAKAMOTO, Tatsuro. "Ryosai Kenbo, The Educational Ideal of'Good Wife, Wise Mother'in Modern Japan

(The Intimate and the Public in Asian and Global Perspectives.), KOYAMA, Shizuko, translated by FILLER,

Stephen, Boston, Brill, 2013." Educational Studies in Japan 8 (2014): 159-161.

Gulliver, Katrina. Modern women in China and Japan: Gender, feminism and global modernity between the wars.

Vol. 2. IB Tauris, 2012.

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most of the cultural values are universal, it remains that these values argued by Ekken will only

be relevant to the Japanese culture and not, for instance, the western culture where gender

equality is appreciated.

The document was written in a historical context when the women were lowly regarded

in the society. Their roles were more defined and restricted to the family matters, and more so,

these very principles upon which women thrived in the society were solely determined and set by

the men. Therefore, at this time, the power of the male species was dominant, and the female

gender only lived to submit to the men

. Ekken even refers to the women as foolish that they

should not trust themselves. This illustrates the position of women at this time in history.

Besides, it is this time that the transition of the Chinese dynasties was in action and the male

gender was aggressively dominating in power.

The author addresses various individuals in this particular writing as his audience. This,

in general, including the men and women in the Japanese culture. However, he more specifically

and on a broader scope addresses the women and the young girls in this culture. He outlines the

rules and the moral and ethical guidelines that the women should adhere to as they respect and

submit to their husband

. The violation of the same is the basis against which the men, in cases

of married families, shall divorce their women. He outlines how a woman should not have any

Horiuchi, Annick, and Matthias Hayek. "Listen, Copy, Read: Popular Learning in Early Modern Japan." (2014):

380.

Cavaliere, Paola. Promising Practices: Women Volunteers in Contemporary Japanese Religious Civil Society.

Brill, 2015.

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other lord but instead outright worship and respect the man, as she also strictly watches over her

conduct.

The reason and motivation behind Ekken writing this document is to educate the society

and more specifically the women. Additionally, the author, as mentioned above write most of his

work, including this, in Japanese vernacular. That means that he intended to ensure that this

cultural knowledge reaches the fundamental people in the culture that could not be able to

understand the academic language in which most of the documents and knowledge sources were

written in. For him, communication is the key to understanding and therefore he intended to

communicate in the simplest way possible.

The main idea of this document can be deduced from the title of the document. That is

The Great Learning for Women. Therefore, the primary idea of the document is to provide

teachings to women. Cultural teachings on how women should conduct themselves, respect their

husbands and submit to them as well as observe their responsibilities to the family. It also

outlines few guidelines for grooming young girls into responsible women and therefore wives. It

also serves to teach and help the women understand their position in the society in context. The

author emphasizes in women having respect and honor to men, being responsible to the

household and also intelligent. To learn the appropriate ways and language in which they

communicate and address their husbands and men in general

The source is important in two ways. First, it is the way through which cultural values are

passed on and maintained. Therefore, the document is important in preserving these values and

Nakamura, Momoko. Gender, language and ideology: A genealogy of Japanese women's language. Vol. 58. John

Benjamins Publishing Company, 2014.

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passing them on to the next generations through education. Secondly, the importance of this

document entails means through which cultural knowledge is administered. Ekken writes in

vernacular Japanese which means that the material seeks to reach every individual of the society

and educate them accordingly. This should also be the purpose of any document. To inform and

educate.

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Bibliography

Cavaliere, Paola. Promising Practices: Women Volunteers in Contemporary Japanese Religious

Civil Society. Brill, 2015.

Gulliver, Katrina. Modern women in China and Japan: Gender, feminism and global modernity

between the wars. Vol. 2. IB Tauris, 2012.

Horiuchi, Annick, and Matthias Hayek. "Listen, Copy, Read: Popular Learning in Early Modern

Japan." (2014): 380.

Kaibara Ekken. 2005. Excerpts from The Great Learning for Women (Onna Daigaku) Columbia

University Press. 2005.

Nakamura, Momoko. Gender, language and ideology: A genealogy of Japanese women's

language. Vol. 58. John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2014.

SAKAMOTO, Tatsuro. "Ryosai Kenbo, The Educational Ideal of'Good Wife, Wise Mother'in

Modern Japan (The Intimate and the Public in Asian and Global Perspectives.),

KOYAMA, Shizuko, translated by FILLER, Stephen, Boston, Brill, 2013." Educational

Studies in Japan 8 (2014): 159-161.

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