Ekiken is one of samurais belonging to Kuroda Han. He lived for long lifetime(1630-1714).
But, in spite of many questions to Neo-Confucianism, he had not announced any sentences to criticize until before his death, though in the same time ITO JINSAI criticized the image of Neo-Confucianism, What does it mean? I had cleared the framework of Ekiken thought, which was originated with Chinese classical bible ‘eki’(易経) and samurai thought since Kamakura era in Japan. But that is not issue here.
I would tell you the reason why Ekiken was against Neo-Confucianism. Essentially, he had not accepted Chu His’s view on humans. The idea is based on Mencius, one that everyone is endowed with absolute good gifted by Heaven(the Lord of Heaven). Has every one common nature to become ‘Saint’ since his birth? That was the question Ekiken had gotten from his life experience. He often says “Nobody is saint.” In Edo era, all people were engaged with their profession divided to each social status. They were politically enforced to engage with profession allocated to fixed social status. Political and Social status were regarded as the distinction of profession, when the distinction was very strict in clothes, housing et cetera. There were no room for social mobility to transfer between statuses. In addition to it, Ekiken thought that everyone had his unique character and his qualities different from others by nature, not only that, human cognition is limited, too.
If everyone is essentially different from other peoples, is it morally right to measure and criticize other people by a single standard? That recognition had led Ekiken to create new morals and new way of life different from idea of New-Confucianism. Ekiken proposed the new way of life not to battle, not to criticize other people and to wait for their progress in moral areas for pursuing for peace and pleasure in daily life.
He had not mentioned any reform or change of political system in spite of criticizing authorities to manage with politics of han. His practical study is limited in private morals.
But his many teaching texts were used widely after his death among social middle class to improve morals for better life. This way of life may be called as a kind of new conservatism.