Ito Jinsai’s Search for the Meaning of the Chinese Classics; a Revolution in Japanese Confucianism
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The Japanese Confucian Scholar Ito Jinsai (1627-1705) took Confucian studies in Japan in a radically new direction. He challenged the basis of the Confucian orthodoxy that existed by asserting that language itself, rather that metaphysics, was the proper topic of inquiry for the Confucian scholar. His sophisticated study of the Analects and Mencius entitled G o m o j i g i stands out among his works as a representative of his thought. G o m o j i g i is treated in detail within this paper with regards to Jinsai’s conception of the Confucian project. Jinsai challenged the Chinese Neo-Confucian orthodoxy. Whereas intellectuals had previously tried to mimic the Chinese tradition from without, Jinsai tried to reinvent it from within. Rather than attempting to come closer to understanding Song dynasty interpretations of the classics by Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi, Jinsai came to the conclusion that the whole Chinese interpretive tradition had lost its foundations in the teachings of Mencius and Confucius, and that the Japanese reader could obtain insights that the contemporary Chinese reader did not have.
Abstract
The Japanese Confucian Scholar Ito Jinsai (1627-1705) took Confucian studies in Japan in a radically new direction. He challenged the basis of the Confucian orthodoxy that existed by asserting that language itself, rather that metaphysics, was the proper topic of inquiry for the Confucian scholar. His sophisticated study of the Analects and Mencius entitled G o m o j i g i stands out among his works as a representative of his thought. G o m o j i g i is treated in detail within this paper with regards to Jinsai’s conception of the Confucian project. Jinsai challenged the Chinese Neo-Confucian orthodoxy. Whereas intellectuals had previously tried to mimic the Chinese tradition from without, Jinsai tried to reinvent it from within. Rather than attempting to come closer to understanding Song dynasty interpretations of the classics by Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi, Jinsai came to the conclusion that the whole Chinese interpretive tradition had lost its foundations in the teachings of Mencius and Confucius, and that the Japanese reader could obtain insights that the contemporary Chinese reader did not have.