Background
Taoka Reiun was born on November 21, 1879 in Aichi, Japan.
嶺雲 田岡
Taoka Reiun was born on November 21, 1879 in Aichi, Japan.
Taoka learned Chinese in his childhood by reading works such as Kokushiryaku, Nihon Gaishi and Jūhasshiryaku. He studied at Marine Products School and at special course of Chinese Classics of Tokyo University.
After graduation, he wrote reviews in magazines. Influenced by Chinese philosophers such as Zhuāngzǐ and Lǎozǐ, by Arthur Schopenhauer and Eduard von Hartmann and cultural critics such as Edward Carpenter and Max Nordau, he dealt critically with the political, cultural, industrial and military development of the Meiji period.
Taoka engaged himself in various jobs, serving in Tsuyama Middle School, Ibaraki Newspaper, school at Soochow in China, Kyushu Nippo (newspaper), Chugoku Mimpo (as chief editor), etc. While he was employed at the Chugoku Mimpo, was thrown rnto prison on charge of offense against government officials.
(Japanese Edition)
(Japanese Edition)
1906A careful reader of philosophy, religion, and literature, Reiun embraced a vision of history, society, and the future that marks him as an original and creative thinker whose understanding of what it means to be modern and human remains alive and vital today.