Abstract
This essay is an introductory survey of Ogyū Sorai’s intellectual work from the time of his first work, the Fūryūshishaki (1706), to what was perhaps his last work, the Seidan (1727). Both of these works have been translated by this author. Their composition spans a 20-year period from the Genroku (1688–1704) era to the Kyōhō (1716–1735) era. Sorai began his writings during this period with a travelogue written while he was in Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu’s service; his writings ended with a proposal for reforms that he thought were needed in Tokugawa times. In between, Sorai turned to Chinese and Confucian studies with a conservative bent, as shown in the works of the Bendō, and the Benmei. In these works, he attempted to define the Confucian Way and the terms of it. On the basis of such works, Sorai is widely acclaimed a central thinker in mid-Tokugawa Japan.
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Notes
- 1.
The Kyōchūkikō (1706) is found in Soraishū, vol. 15. Lidin’s translation explains, in notes to the text, how the Füryūshishaki differs from the Kyōchūkikō. The 300 Chinese poems are not included in the latter work. Lidin’s “Introduction” (1983: 3–70) situates the work in its historical setting.
- 2.
Only in the Fūryūshishaki, kan 20.
- 3.
Sorai was acquainted with Ming law and practice which said that officials must retain their original registered family status.
- 4.
Sorai mentions in his Shinruigaki-yuishogaki that he submitted a proposal on the establishment of tashidaka supplementary stipend. He states proudly that it had its start when he undertook this assignment. The entry in the chronicle is not dated but the proposal must have been written in the early 1720s, before the tashidaka reform mentioned by Kasaya was introduced in 1723. Lidin 1973: 63–64, 178; Kasaya 1993: 112–124: Iwahashi 1934: 134.
- 5.
References
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Lidin, O.G. (2014). Ogyū Sorai: Confucian Conservative Reformer: From Journey to Kai to Discourse on Government . In: Huang, Cc., Tucker, J. (eds) Dao Companion to Japanese Confucian Philosophy. Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2921-8_6
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