are the principles of things. But a single primal material force is the basis, and
principle is posterior to material force, ch’i” (quoted in Maruyama, 1974: 446).
There is no single principle, but only the multiple principles of natural phe-
nomena. The way is opened to develop cosmological or metaphysical principles
independently of human nature. By the same token, ethics is freed up as a
separate realm of discussion. Ansai’s moral rigorism now appears as merely
inhumane. Ito Jinsai’s school became the linchpin of subsequent developments,
organizationally and in network structure. The Kogido was imitated by other
innovators, who founded proprietary schools that broke free from the Neo-
Confucian pattern. Among Jinsai’s pupils were Keichu and Kada no Azu-
mamano, who were instrumental in National Learning, as well as the leaders
of the Kaitokudo merchant academy. Jinsai’s doctrines were systematized in
the next generation by his son Ito Togai; the school remained prominent in
subsequent scholarship until 1871, when all Confucian schools were abolished
in favor of Western education.
The 1665–1700 generation was the most creative in many centuries; alto-
gether it included five major philosophers (Ansai, Yamaga Soko, Kaibara
Ekken, and Ito Jinsai, as well as Bankei on the Buddhist side), plus two
secondary figures (Kumazawa Banzan and the Buddhist scholar Tetsugen).^35
The momentum of innovation continued in the following generation.
The conservative path to innovation carried on. Jinsai had freed Confu-
cianism from religion by shifting emphasis to the original texts, promoting
naturalism in the name of tradition. This opening was exploited most forcefully
by Ogyu Sorai. Sorai was in the center of power at Edo. Formerly a pupil of
the Hayashi school, he had advanced to chamberlain of the fifth shogun,
Yoshimune. Advance guard to Sorai’s position was his colleague in the court
bureaucracy, Arai Hakaseki, trained in the same lineage as Ito Jinsai, and in
contact with the Mito scholars. Arai is an all-round Confucian scholar, but
chiefly engaged with purely secular concerns of history, and above all practical
problems of the fiscal condition of the government. Arai played down ideology
in favor of pragmatics. Holding Christian doctrine to be nonsense posing no
danger to the state, he saw less need for seclusion from foreign commerce.
Ansai’s approach to history downplayed the omens of traditional Confucian
annals in favor of a rational interpretation of events.
Upon retiring from office in 1714, Sorai established his Edo school, where
Ch’eng-Chu orthodoxy was definitely repudiated in favor of Ito’s kogaku
(Ancient Learning). This move of rebellious philosophy into the seat of power
had its risks, insofar as the Hayashi school had recently been elevated to a
state shrine; but Sorai’s excellent government connections shielded him, and
his school soon became the center of intellectual attention.
Sorai proceeded to take the distinction between Neo-Confucianism and the
Innovation through Conservatism: Japan • 359