Ogyū Sorai, or Butsu, was a Japanese Confucianist of the kogakuha ("school of ancient learning"), and famous as a political thinker. Ogyū was born in Edo (Tokyo). He was a gifted pupil and soon mastered classical Chinese; the classical style is characteristic of his writings. Proud by nature, Ogyū distinguished himself in the defense of official Zhu Xi Neo-Confucianism in polemics against Itō Jinsai. In 1716, however, his views changed, and in Bendō (Defining the way) and Bemmei (Definitions of terms) he supports most of Itō's ideas. All of Ogyū's other works were inspired by the ancient sages in accord with the maxim "back to antiquity," a maxim applicable to many of his innovations. These innovations were expressed in Taiheisaku (A policy for great peace) and Seidan (Discourses on government). Ogyū's cosmological views differ little from Itō's...