Special Exhibition "Seike Exhibition—The Scholarship of the Kiyohara Family"

2017/5/15

Introduction to the "Seike Exhibition"　　　　　　　　　　　　Michio Sato, Professor, Faculty of Letters

The Kiyohara family (abbreviated as Seike) is a distinguished lineage that long endured from the Heian period to the end of the Edo period as a family of scholars of Myōgyōdō (the study of the Confucian classics). Myōgyōdō was originally a department within the Daigaku-ryō (the Imperial University) dedicated to the study of the Chinese Confucian classics, but over time, the Kiyohara family strove to expand its area of expertise, treating any book as an object of study, whether Chinese or Japanese, as long as it contributed to the art of governance and statecraft. This proactive approach to scholarship was likely the factor that allowed the Kiyohara family to remain a distinguished house for so long.

The former collection of the Kiyohara family is now housed at the Kyoto University Library under the name "Seike Bunko" (the Seike Collection). While the "Seike Bunko" collection forms the foundation for understanding the scholarship of the Kiyohara family, many other valuable materials related to the Seike family actually exist outside the Kyoto University Library. These materials not only supplement the "Seike Bunko" collection but are also indispensable for understanding the scholarship of the Seike family.

The library of this Juku holds books that are particularly important for understanding the Seike family during the Muromachi period. The Major in Japanese Literature at the Faculty of Letters has decided to exhibit materials related to the Kiyohara family held in the library, under the title "Seike Exhibition—The Scholarship of the Kiyohara Family." We hope this will provide an opportunity for visitors to learn about the scholarship of the Seike family.