Itō Jinsai, a Japanese Confucianist of the kogakuha ("school of ancient learning"), was born in Kyoto, the son of a poor merchant, and spent his life there as an educator. After studying the official Zhu Xi Confucianist doctrine, he rediscovered ancient Confucianism and became its systematizer and, through the Kogidō, a school he founded in 1680, its propagator. The novelty of his teaching aroused the suspicion of the central government in Edo (Tokyo). However, it was not suppressed although his kogigaku, or "learning-of-the-ancient-meaning," was gaining a large following. Through the able guidance of his scholarly son, Tōgai, and of his grandson the school was operated until 1871, when all Confucianist schools were abolished in favor of the new Western system.

Itō's philosophy, stemming from a great admiration for Confucius and Mencius, is quite contrary to the Neo-Confucianism of Zhu Xi...