Contextualizing Nakae Chōmin's "A Discourse by Three Drunkards on Government"

This project endeavors to, one, discover the key figures represented by Nakae Chōmin in his work "A Discourse by Three Drunkards on Government", and two, develop an analysis of Nakae Chōmin's motivations, whether they were political or possibly purely intellectual, in writing and releasing the work. Released around 1887, "A Discourse by Three Drunkards on Government" enraptures much of the tensions present during a crucial shift of political thought during the 1870s and 1880s in Meiji Japan. The book offers two opposing ideas of thought espoused by the Gentleman from the West and the Champion of the East, while the Master offers a rational and intellectual critique. 

The two pages of the exhibit serve as two crucial parts of the project. The page on Saigō Takamori represents a brief biography of a historical figure that, perhaps, served as the inspiration for the Champion of the East. The second page begins the process of analyzing the motivations of Nakae Chōmin. Finally, the nature of this project does not lend itself easily to non-literary primary sources. Thus, for this assignment, the items chosen are pictures of two of the key figures.