Th is article examines the unprecedented eff ort that was made to articulate the relations between knowledge of medicine, sword fighting, and Zen during the Tokugawa period. Focusing on the writings of Takuan Sōhō (1573-1646), Hakuin Ekaku (1686-1769), Kaibara Ekken (1630-1714), and others, this article attempts to show that intellectuals in early modern Japan began to idealize industrious behavior and self-discipline as a new ethos. To get a better sense of why these men began to espouse this new ethos, this paper will set their writings against the larger historical backdrop of the socio-economic changes that took place during the Tokugawa period with a special emphasis on the new bakufu policies toward military households and also temples and shrines. Th is article hopes to show how these larger historical forces infl ected the experiences of the body (e.g. worms and stagnation) and how some men began to constitute themselves as self-disciplining subjects that are solely responsible for their own health and spiritual well-being
目次
Takuan on stagnation 94 Self-regulation 101 Pax Tokugawa and the problem of identity 105 Conclusion 110
