ABSTRACT
Intellectually and institutionally, the Tokugawa period was the most vigorous of Japan's historical eras. It was deeply steeped in contrast and variation. On the one band, there were Confucian scholars who did not hesitate to call themselves "eastern barbarians" and did not hide their adulation for the country of the "Sage," China. On the other hand, there were kokugaku (nationallearning) scholars who reveled in their ethnocentrism. Some avidly studied Western scientific methods, while others found inspiration in the textual criticism of Confucian or Japanese classics.
