Japanese Reinterpretations of Confucianism

Abstract

This article aims to introduce the study of Itō Jinsai from the point of view of the value of his Confucian interpretations within the context of the project of Confucian ethics—in other words, trying to ascertain in what ways Jinsai’s project can help facilitate the study of Confucian ethics beyond the realm of intellectual history in the global context of the 21st century. It is imperative to allow Jinsai’s notions, as much as possible, to speak for themselves; but it is also of great importance to first place Jinsai within his own time and inside the intellectual space in which he formulated his ideas. A number of scholarly sources will be considered, with the intention of illuminating Jinsai’s work from a few different angles.

Humean Elements in the Teachings of Itō Jinsai

“…As I show elsewhere (see Ogrizek 2021) even though the philosophical work of Jinsai might for him perhaps be seen as neither the starting point, nor the actual goal, it can also be said to be the central activity that holds his project together (ibid., 206). Jinsai's main contention is that the Cheng-Zhu School was in its readings of Confucian notions too deeply influenced by the Buddhist and Daoist teachings-which for Jinsai symbolized a sort of antithesis to Confucian ethics 2 .…”