Background
Soko Yamaga (real name: Takasuke) was born on September 21, 1622, in Aizu, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.
(Vol-1, Japanese Edition)
Vol-1, Japanese Edition
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素行 山鹿
Soko Yamaga (real name: Takasuke) was born on September 21, 1622, in Aizu, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.
Yamaga Soko had been studying the Chinese classics since the age of six, and at nine became a student of Hayashi Razan.
In 1652, Soko Yamaga was employed by Naganao Asano, Lord of Ako. Moved to Edo where he won great fame and many nobles became his student. He rejected Chutzu Doctrine, and thus offended the Shogunate and was exiled to Ako for 10 years. Later, proceeded to Edo again and lectured on tactics.
(Vol-1, Japanese Edition)
Soko Yamaga firmly believed in the supremacy of Japan over other nations and this forms the central principle of his work Chucho Jijitsu (which translates as "Actual Facts about the Central Realm"). He believed that China was inferior to Japan not only because of geographical position, but also because Japan had an unbroken line of Emperors and had no revolutions.
Quotations: "The water and soil of Japan excel those of all other countries, and the qualities of its people are supreme throughout the eight corners of the earth. For this reason, the boundless eternity of its gods and the endlessness of the reign of its sacred line, its splendid works of literature and glorious feats of arms, shall be as enduring as heaven and earth."
Quotes from others about the person
William Scott Wilson, Japanese translator: "Yamaga in his theory of Shidō (a less radical theory than bushidō), defined the warrior as an example of Confucian purity to the other classes of society, and as punisher of those who would stray from its path".
