The
Final Decades of the Shogunate
nThe upper classes became more secular, with variety among Confucian schools preventing the intellectual unproductiveness common in China.
•Education expanded beyond the upper classes and led to the highest literacy rate outside of the West.
•Even though Confucianism was dominant, there were many intellectual rivals.
•A national studies group venerated Japanese traditions, including the position of the emperor and Shinto religion.
•Another group pursued Dutch studies, or an interest in Western scientific progress.
