Fukuzawa conveys to us the concept of independence and self-respect not only by exemplifying the two qualities in his actions, but also by largely insisting that his students follow in a almost perfect alignment. As a family man, however, Fukuzawa took on a more lenient character towards his children. By prioritizing good health above all else and focusing on ensuring strong immediate family ties, he expresses great partisanship towards his family. Although his main emphasis came from different angles, his goal was the same, focusing on independence and self-respect. In both institutions (family, students), however, he strongly emphasized the sense of equality among both his children and his students, without excluding himself. All he taught them was to raise them to a higher level than ancient Japan would have done. He wanted his children and students to think for themselves by omitting the teachings of Confucian beliefs. For him, Confucianism was an oppressor, as it discouraged people from thinking individually or being independent. He knew that Japan could not stay out of international affairs forever, so he thought it was best to at least teach those in his school along with his children, things that would make them more aware of what is happening around them and would keep eyes turned abroad. rather than nationally in the company's ranking. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay During the founding of Keio-gijuku (the first school with a modern organization) in 1868 (the first year of Meiji) there was a in our terms, conservative Japan. People were in an uproar over the involvement of the impending government changes. There was a constant struggle between the Shogun and the imperial court regarding Japan's lack of involvement in international relations. The Shoguns, according to the imperial court, were not moving fast enough to remove Western ideology from Japan. The imperial court therefore deemed the Shogun to be disloyal and slow to respond to domestic Western influence. By this time a number of clans had advised to assist the imperial court by taking a violent but rigid stance towards anyone who was pro-foreign or showed sympathy towards Western ideas or people. As a result, Fukuzawa had to maintain his own perspective while trying to appear indifferent in the eyes of those who opposed the West. His school was the only school of primarily Western ideas and would in the future become the only school specializing in English as the primary language when conventional Japanese still sought the Chinese language and was considered prestigious. focus on education instead of respecting people's ranks, as the Shoguns emphasized. He had preferred that, unlike any other place in Japan, his school did not submit to the respect of ranks and classes associated with prejudicial attitudes towards others. According to Fukuzawa this was one of the reasons why Japan did not move forward. He said Japan's old traditional ways kept it from progressing. The Japanese people had lived for centuries under oppressive social restrictions and had acquired the habit of passive obedience. To direct these people towards a more active life, the first step was the injunction not to bow. This implies that bowing is the first step towards submission, and a submissive person cannotbe independent but instead depends on the status or attitude of others. Furthermore, to have self-respect, one must not consider oneself inferior to others. There is yet another incident where after the law changed allowing everyone to ride, regardless of the rank of someone they might pass on the street. A farmer meets Fukuzawa while he is riding a horse. Since he is a farmer, according to the old law he could not do this, but at the time of the event it was legal. He did not know this, for he was not educated and immediately with great fear jumped off his horse. Fukuzawa was devastated and told him to get back in the saddle, because there was no reason why he shouldn't be allowed to ride his own horse. From this incident Fukuzawa understood the importance of education, as the poor man did not even know the law. Personally, he preferred to treat all men equally, as this was the way his parents did during his youth. Fukuzawa firmly believed that Japanese education should be independent of Chinese influence. His reasoning was this, I reasoned that Chinese philosophy as the root of education was responsible for our obvious shortcomings, he reasoned within himself that Confucianism discouraged independent thinking and studies of number and reason in material culture. This, according to him, was another setback faced by Japan. Since Confucianism left no room for individual creative philosophy, it actually oppressed it, and of course Fukuzawa was against any oppressive ideology. Although very well disciplined, Fukuzawa's students never went too far out of line. In one case it was against school rules to scribble on anything. Punctually a young man's lamp had scribbles on it. When Fukuzawa noticed this, he asked the man what the reasoning behind those scribbles was and the young man insisted that it was not his work. Fukuzawa then punished the young man by having him discard the old lamp and buy a new one because he (the young man) had been a fool and allowed someone else to scribble on his lamp. Fukuzawa had great control over his youth and did not need to have higher status or induce cruel punishments to achieve results, such as when the imperial court erred (allowing violent actions by the clans). When it came to his immediate family he was a much more liberal in the sense that he was not fanatically determined to educate only his children as some conventional Japanese were. He never rushed them to read and instead waited until they were 5 or 6 years old before he began teaching them to read and write. He never gave rewards for things that needed to be done. For example, he said he never praised his children for reading a book. As for other things that suck, like doing well in gymnastics and things like that, he would have paid honorable attention. This was due to his feelings on independence. Learning is something you have to seek out on your own. If you wait to be rewarded, are you independent or dependent? Within his large family he found it essential to maintain close family ties. He encouraged equality within his family, starting with himself. He did not like superior titles or special treatment from his family because he was the man of the house. On the contrary, he asked that there be no secrets between family members inside the house. He also had a strong sense of love for his family. Here we see once again that education is not Fukuzawa's only goal, here he cares greatly about the physical health of his children, as he makes sure they have food before anything else. He says they never have.