- Major intellectual presence of the 1700s
- Celebrates ancient Chinese classics rather than Zhu Xi 朱子orthodoxy
- "Spoke" with his students in "Chinese"
- Helped popularize classical Chinese poetry, formerly an elite pursuit
- Valued goals, not tactics, of Confucian texts
- Restrain base instincts, but recognize individual difference
- Generate harmony by making use of different talents
- "Virtue means acquisition . It means that each person
acquires a share in the Way. . . . Human nature is different in each individual.
Thus virtue too is different for each person. The Way is broad. As
long as one is not a Sage, how can one be in complete unity with the
Way? . . . Differences in human nature can be compared to trees and
grass, which are separate and distinct. Even the moral teachings of
the Sages cannot be forced upon the people. Each individual must follow
what is suitable to his nature, and develop his virtues by cultivating his natural
tendencies."弁名
- "The farmers till the soil and support the people of the world; the
artisans make household goods and enable the people of the world to
use them; the merchants move goods from one place to another and
thus serve the people of the world; and the samurai govern the world
and maintain order. Although they all perform their own tasks, they
also help each other. If even one part were missing, the country would
collapse. People are social beings; they cannot exist in isolation,
separated from one another. All the people of the world are officials who
assist the ruling prince, who is the parent of the people."
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