Neo-Confucianism Confucianism as revived in China during the late tenth to mid-seventeenth centuries. It has also been called Tao-hsüeh (learning of the Way) or Li-hsüeh (learning of principles) in the broader sense. It is without any doubt Confucianism, since Sung–Ming Confucianists also found their ultimate commitment in jen (humanity or human-heartedness) and regulated their behavior by li (propriety). But it acquired new features, since it was a movement in response to the challenges from Buddhism and Neo-Taoism. Therefore it developed sophisticated theories of human mind and nature and also cosmology and metaphysics far beyond the scope of Pre-Ch’in Confucianism. If the Confucian ideal may be characterized by nei-sheng-waiwang (inward sageliness and outward kingliness), then the Neo-Confucianists certainly made greater contributions to the nei-sheng side, as they considered wei-chi-chih-hsüeh (learning for one’s self) as their primary concern, and developed sophisticated discipline of the mind comparable to the kind of transcendental meditation practiced by Buddhists and Taoists. They put emphasis on finding resources within the self. Hence they moved away from the Han tradition of writing extensive commentaries on the Five Classics. Instead, they looked for guidance to the so-called Four Books: the Analects, the Mencius, The Great Learning, and The Doctrine of the Mean. They also believed that they should put what they had learned from the words of the sages and worthies into practice in order to make themselves better. This was to start a new trend in sharp contrast to the earlier Five Dynasties period (907–60), when moral standards had fallen to a new low. According to Chu Hsi, the movement started with Chou Tun-yi (1017–73), who, along with Chang Tsai (1020–77), gave new interpretations to the I-Ching (the Book of Changes) and The Doctrine of the Mean in combination with the Analects and the Mencius so as to develop new cosmologies and metaphysics in response to the challenges from Buddhism and Taoism. The name of Shao Yung (1011–77), an expert on the I-Ching, was excluded, as his views were considered too Taoistic. But the true founders and leaders of the movement were the two Ch’eng brothers – Ch’eng Hao (1032–85) and Ch’eng Yi (1033– 1107). Onetime pupils of Chou, they developed li (principle) into a philosophical concept. Even though Hua-yen Buddhism had used the term first, the Ch’eng brothers gave it a totally new interpretation from a Confucian perspective. Later scholars find that the thoughts of the two brothers differed both in style and in substance. Ch’eng Hao believed in i-pen (one foundation), while Ch’eng Yi developed a dualistic metaphysics of li (principle) and ch’i (material force). On the surface Chu Hsi was the follower of the Ch’eng brothers, but in fact he was only following the lead of Ch’eng Yi, and promoted the socalled Li-hsüeh (learning of principles) in the narrower sense. His younger contemporary Lu Hsiang-shan (1139–93) objected to Chu’s method of looking for principles among things. He urged us to realize principle within one’s own mind, went back to Mencius’s teaching to establish the greater part of the self first, and promoted the so-called hsin-hsüeh (learning of the mind). But Chu Hsi’s commentaries on the Four Books were adopted as the basis of civil service examinations in the Yüan dynasty; Lu’s views were largely ignored until there were revived in the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) by Wang Yang-ming (1472–1529), who identified the mind with principle and advocated that knowledge and action are one. Since Lu–Wang’s thoughts were closer to Mencius, who was honored to have represented the orthodox line of transmission of the Way, Mou Tsung-san advanced the theory that Chu Hsi was the side branch taking over the orthodoxy; he also believed that Hu Hung (1100–55) and Liu Tsung-chou (1578–1645) developed a third branch of Neo-Confucianism in addition to that of Ch’eng and Chu and that of Lu and Wang. His views have generated many controversies. Sung–Ming Neo-Confucianism was hailed as creating the second golden period of Chinese philosophy since the late Chou. Huang Tsung-hsi (1610–95), a pupil of Liu Tsung-chou and the last important figure in Sung–Ming Neo-Confucianism, extensively studied the movement and wrote essential works on it.
See also CHU HSI, CONFUCIANISM , CONFU- CIUS , HUANG TSUNG -HSI , LI CHI , MENCIUS , SHAO YUNG , WANG YANG -MIN. S.-h.L.