Yogaku Koyo (Principles of Early Education) (幼学綱要)
"Yogaku Koyo" (Principles of Early Education) is the 'shushin' (moral education) book compiled by Nagazane Motoda, lecturer in the Imperial Household, under the command of Meiji Emperor and distributed by the Department of the Imperial Household on December 2, in 1882. In the field of history and education studies, the prevailing theory is to regard this as origin of the Imperial Rescript of Education.
Contents
MOTODA stressed that true education was to imprint the virtues of humanity, justice, loyalty to their masters and filial piety on children's minds before they were given knowledge. For this purpose, he said that they should thoroughly repeat the virtuous phrases of "Shishogokyo" until they could recite them by heart, which were strongly reflected in the book as his approach to education.
History
In 1879, Meiji Emperor criticized the Enlightenment and promulgated "Kyogaku Taishi (The Imperial Will Education)", which was actually written by MOTODA, that public education should be based on Confucianism laying stress on the virtue of humanity, justice, loyalty and filial piety. In response to this, Hirofumi ITO, however, argued back against the Imperial Will, submitting 'kyoikugi (Opinion on Education)' which led to a confrontation between the ITO group (the Grand Council of State and the Ministry of Education) and the MOTODA group (the Department of the Imperial Household and Emperor Meiji who was a devotee of the teaching).
As a result, the Emperor ordered MOTODA to compile a teaching manual for young children to promote a sense of morality in humanity, justice, loyalty to one's master and filial piety. MOTODA began compiling with Masakaze TAKASAKI and Masakata SENGOKU and more or less finished in the summer of 1881, however, there was a debate whether to adopt cases from the West or not. Finally the compilation was finished with amendments by MOTODA and printed and distributed with drawings by Fuko MATSUMOTO.
(The above mentioned details indicate that the Grand Council of state was not engaged in the process of compilation or distribution.)
First the book was granted, as an imperial gift with imperial instructions, to local officials who came to Tokyo to attend a local administrative assembly. Second, it was scheduled that the books were granted to the imperial family and officials who were in the higher positions than ones appointed with the Emperor's approval and national and prefectural schools, while they were given to private schools by collecting expenses. Thus, during six years from 1882, approximately 32,000 copies were given as Imperial gifts and approximately 8,600 copies were to private schools, bringing the total to 41,000 copies. At school, however, some of the books, being treated courteously, were kept and stored safe in a box made of paulownia wood, because "The book was granted by the Emperor and we fear soiling it in a classroom" thus allowing only a few important figures such as a principal to see: it is, without question, not the aim of the distribution, though.
With the number of requests of the grant decreasing after Arinori MORI, an Illuminati, took office as the Minister of Education, and the copyright's transfer from the Imperial Household Department to Yoshikawa Kobunkan Inc. in 1887, the grants were suspended in the following year. In the Showa period when nationalism was promoted, a new edition of the book and an instruction manual were published and they were used to compliment the Imperial Rescript on Education.