Abstract

Sorai wrote Ken’en zuihitsu in the days when he still was a follower of Zhu Xi. It was printed in Shōtoku 4. The issues taken up in this book are many and various, but a great many of its pages are devoted to criticism of Itō Jinsai 伊藤仁斎. Therefore, it drew the attention of such followers of Zhu Xi as Takeda Shun’an 竹田春庵 and Yabu Shin’an 藪慎庵, who regarded it as a book that refuted Jinsai’s teachings. In his later years, Sorai regretted as immature that he wrote a polemical book that was inspired by feelings of enmity against Jinsai.