if a scholar lives in the city, has an official rank, and is employed by the government, he should be called a “government scholar.” should not be disparaged. Sea bream sashimi is served to the nobility but does not pass the lips of the poor. Rural scholarship is the same as the rural music and dance of the countryside. I duty to prepare the dishes and serve that sustenance of learning to noble and common, rich and poor, alike. The idea of rural scholarship as opposed to official scholarship is the spirit in which the Philosophy Academy was founded. The Academy was meant to open up educational opportunities for those who had no money or leisure time. The social conditions were different then and education was yet to reach those places in the countryside that were Enryō’s target. For this reason he shifted from school-based education to social education and returned to his roots. The Morality Church movement aimed to stress the importance of education and improve Japanese society by raising morals, quality of thought, and business acumen to the level Enryō saw in the West. In order to do this he focused his rural scholarship initiatives on the general public in the so-called rural areas—the provincial cities, towns, and villages that acted as the foundation of Japan. Fukuzawa once famously declined to receive an elite title from the government. A little known fact is that, in his later years, Enryō also declined the suggestion of his receiving a similar award not once but twice. He lived his life as a philosopher and educator in the common sector, without bending a knee to enter the gates of power. Although official government learning is noble, rural learning will become like the music of the countryside; I will make it my 164
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