辨道（Bendō）

简介

Ogyu Sorai wrote this short essay in 1717, together with the longer Distinguishing Names. He argues that the Way of the sages is not a natural principle but a human creation: the rites, music, punishments and institutions that the ancient kings of China devised to bring peace to the realm. It can be understood only by reading the ancient texts in their original language, which is why Sorai founded a school of “ancient words and phrases” (kobunjigaku). He criticises both Zhu Xi and Ito Jinsai for turning the Way into a matter of inner morality. The political scientist Maruyama Masao later read Sorai’s separation of political order from private morality as a step towards modern political thought in Japan.

联系

承接了

• 荀子约公元前240年年 · 荀子

批评了

• 语孟字义（Gomō jigi）1683 · 伊藤仁斋

被承接于

• 古事记传（Kojiki-den）1798 · 本居宣长
• 日本政治思想史研究1952 · 丸山真男