988 regan murphy
(1670–1736),^13 Ogyū Sorai (1666–1728),^14 and the so-
called “father of nativism,” the esoteric Buddhist monk Keichū
(1640–1701).^15 Jōgon’s Sanskrit studies were linked to an effort to clear
away historical accretions and retrieve the original meaning of ritual
manuals; the study of Siddham was critical in gaining a correct under-
standing of the mantra and dhāraṇī found in these texts.^16 Jōgon^17 took
an evidential approach that prioritized textual rather than oral author-
ity^18 in sifting through the great accumulation of ritual manuals and
oral transmissions.
Jōgon’s study of Siddham began from an emphasis on a positive
evaluation of language, not only as a manifestation of the dharmakāya
Confucianism and encouraged his students to read Confucian classics, such as the
Analects and Mencius, directly. He established a private school in Kyōto called the
Kogidō.
(^13) Itō Tōgai (1670–1738), the eldest son of Itō Jinsai, was a mid-Edo–period Confu-
cian scholar and teacher. He maintained and consolidated his father’s teachings.
(^14) Ogyū Sorai (1666–1728) was a mid-Edo–period Confucian scholar who attacked
the entire Neo-Confucian tradition and insisted on a return to the Six Classics.
(^15) Ueda Reijō notes several indirect personal connections between Jōgon and Ogyū:
Ogyū was the vassal of the daimyō Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu, who was Jōgon’s patron.
The head of the Nishidai prefecture in Kawachi, Honda Tadamune , was
both a close friend of Jōgon’s disciple Rentai and a disciple of Ogyū. Based on
Ueda’s analysis, Jōgon and Ogyū were part of the same early modern renaissance, but
it is not clear if one influenced the other directly (Ueda 1979, 13).
(^16) The Hirosawa tradition tended to privilege ritual manuals over oral trans-
missions; the Ono tradition favored oral transmissions over ritual manuals. Jōgon
insisted that ritual manuals provide a foundation for criticism of the various traditions
and, based on his research, created new manuals and oral transmissions (Ueda
1979, 8). 17
Jōgon had a wide following in all levels of society and was at the forefront of early
modern publishing of ritual manuals, often working with the publisher Ōbakusan
Inbō. See Ueda 2000.
(^18) Jōgon admonished his disciples in the chapter on previous sūtras and rituals in
his Myōkyokudō Kyōkai (quoted in Ueda 1979, 8):
[T]hose who study Esoteric Buddhism should first look at the original sutras
and rituals of the various gods.... [N]ext they should learn the oral secrets of the
houses and the teachers’ secret teachings. During the period of degenerate law
(mappō), the sacred degenerates into the secular, pearls are ground to powder
and mixed. Therefore, if one does not first seek the correct understanding of
the sacred teachings, one will not be able to tell beans from barley. The true and
the false will become confused and one will not be able to make sense of all the
hundreds of derivative teachings.
This sentiment suggests a Buddhist way of articulating the reason behind the broader
movement in the intellectual sphere aimed at clearing away derivative teachings and
returning to an original embedded in ancient texts.