He felt that these weaknesses were not weaknesses of Confucianism; in his view, Song Confucianists interpreted the classic works of the Four Books and the Five Classics the wrong way. In Soraiu's view, they did this because they "did not know the old words". Sorai consulted the ancient works to get more reliable knowledge. He stated that the ultimate form of scholarly knowledge was history. For him, these works were the best source, even though the present was constantly changing. Sorai thought that study of philosophy began with the study of language. In this he was highly influenced by the Ancient Rhetoric school of the Ming period. This movement saw the Qin and Han periods as the model for prose, and the Tang period as a model for poetry. The Sorai school introduced in "Selections of Tang Poetry" to Japan, where it became very popular. This work is thought to have been edited by Li Panlong (李攀竜 1514-70), who was a founder of the Ancient Rhetoric school. As a result of this, Sorai's school is also known as the Ancient Rhetoric ("kobunji" 古文辞) school today. Sorai's school saw "Selections of Tang Poetry" mainly as a means of accessing the Five Classics. In this viewpoint it was different from other Confucianist schools. Sorai would also accuse other Confucianists in Japan, such as Hayashi Razan, of relying too heavily on Song sources such as Zhu Xi.