Sorai’s Military Studies

Abstract

From his youth until his final days, Ogyū Sorai held an uncommon interest in military lore. Opinions differ on the question whether he had this interest although he was a Confucian, or because he was a Confucian. The answer depends on which aspect of Confucianism one wants to emphasize. If one regards Confucianism as a teaching that gives priority to the cultivation of the self, then any interest in military lore will automatically diminish. If, on the other hand, one sees Confucianism as “pacifying the empire,” i.e., as a teaching that stresses governing the realm and the state, then it will of course be necessary to study military lore as one of the techniques necessary for governing.