But the Tokugawa had not only confirmed the Emperor's spiritual
importance, they had also unwittingly propagated an ethic which
reinforced his right to demand the loyalty and obedience of the
entire nation. The scholar Sorai (1666-1723) had written: 'Morality
is nothing but the necessary means for controlling the subjects
of the empire [and] may be regarded as a device for governing the
people'. The Tokugawa had taken the observation to heart and for
two centuries had inculcated Confucianism in