Yamaga Sokō (1622–85), Itō Jinsai (1627–1705), and Ogyū
Sorai (1666–1728) are generally recognized as the
three luminaries of the kogaku, or
“Ancient Learning”, philosophical movement of
Tokugawa Japan (1603–1868). One of the most
conspicuous features of their masterworks is their
lexicographical methodology. The origins of that
methodology are found, this paper suggests, in (I)
Chen Beixi's (Jpn: Chin Hokukei; 1159–1223)
Xingli ziyi (Jpn: Seiri
jigi; The Meanings of Philosophical
Terms, c. 1226); and (2) Hayashi Razan's
(1583–1657) work propagating the
Ziyi, the Seiri jigi
genkai (Vernacular Explication of
Beixi's Ziyi, 1659).