E2 Neo Confucianism

Zhāng Zǎi

Song thinker who developed a qi-based cosmology; significant because he gave Confucianism a metaphysical framework able to rival Buddhism and Daoism.

Qì

Material force composing all things; important because it linked cosmology, ethics, and human nature in Neo-Confucian thought.

Chéng Hào

Neo-Confucian philosopher associated with principle and moral cultivation; significant because he helped develop the intellectual foundations of Cheng-Zhu orthodoxy.

Chéng Yí

More systematic of the Cheng brothers; important because his ideas on li and moral order deeply influenced Zhu Xi.

Lǐ

Universal principle or pattern underlying reality; significant because it became central to Neo-Confucian moral and political thought.

Géwù

"Investigation of things" to understand principle; important because it defined one method of moral and intellectual cultivation.

Zhū Xī

Major synthesizer of Neo-Confucianism; significant because his interpretations became the orthodox basis of civil service education.

Four Books and Five Classics

Core Confucian canon organized by Zhu Xi; important because they structured elite education for centuries across East Asia.

Jìng

Reverent discipline and focused self-cultivation; significant because Zhu Xi treated it as essential to moral development.

Lù Jiǔyuán

Critic of Zhu Xi who argued principle resides in the mind; important because he founded an alternative strand of Neo-Confucianism.

Wáng Yángmíng

Ming philosopher emphasizing innate moral knowledge; significant because he shifted Neo-Confucianism toward inward moral intuition.

Liángzhì

Inherent moral knowing; important because it became central to Wang's challenge to Zhu Xi orthodoxy.

Shuǐhǔzhuàn

Ming novel about outlaws and brotherhood; significant because it reflects social disorder and critiques of authority.

Sānguó yǎnyì

Historical novel about the Three Kingdoms; important because it shaped ideals of loyalty, legitimacy, and strategy.

Xīyóu jì

Novel inspired by Xuanzang's travels; significant because it fused Buddhist, Daoist, and popular religious imagination.

Jīnpíng méi

Late Ming novel focused on wealth and moral corruption; important because it critiques commercial society and elite decadence.