 “Confucianism” is a term used by westerners to refer to a diverse set of philosophical movements that have been variously known in Japanese as Jugaku (the learning of the scholars), Jukyō (the teachings of the scholars), seigaku (the learning of the sages), seirigaku (the learning of human nature and principle), rigaku (the learning related to principle), and shingaku (the learning of the mind). There was no single word in the traditional East Asian lexicon that corresponded exactly and consistently to “Confucianism,” yet by late-medieval and early-modern times, there was a fairly distinct understanding among Japanese intellectuals of an essential unity to the diverse Confucian teachings otherwise variously referred to. This is clear in references to the “three teachings”, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism (and/or Shintō). One of many examples is Matsunaga Sekigo’s (1592–1657) Irinshō (Selected Writings on Ethics, 1640), which opens by stating, “Between heaven and earth, there are three major ways: the Confucian, which is the way of Confucius; the Buddhist, which is the way of Shakyamuni; and the Daoist, which is the way of Laozi.”