The Long ConversationA timeline of world philosophy

Philosopher

Zhu Xi

1130–1200

The leading Neo-Confucian philosopher, whose synthesis and commentaries on the Four Books became the basis of Chinese state examinations for centuries.

Ink rubbing of an elderly man in a scholar’s cap, with a thin beard and moles beside one eye
Rubbing of a Qing-dynasty stone engraving, kept by Zhu Xi’s descendants, of what is said to be his self-portrait. Scholars regard it as the most reliable likeness.Photo: 向史公哲曰 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · See the original

Zhu Xi drew together the ideas of earlier Song dynasty thinkers into a systematic Neo-Confucian philosophy. He explained the world in terms of principle (li), the pattern that makes each thing what it is, and vital energy (qi), the stuff of which things are made. Self-cultivation, for Zhu Xi, meant investigating the principle in things. His commentaries on the Four Books were made the standard for the imperial examinations in 1313.

Key ideas

Pattern (li) and qi
The world is a patterned whole made of qi, a cosmic vapour that condenses into everything from Yin and Yang to the things we see. Its patterns (li) shape both nature and moral value.
Investigating things
Moral intuition alone can’t cope with the complexity of human affairs. Zhu urged close study of the patterns of relationship and change among things, through reading and observation, to sharpen one’s sense of what each situation calls for.
Good nature, varied endowments
Following Mencius, people are basically good. But each person’s qi endowment, family and surroundings shape their character, which explains how people become bad. Anyone sincerely committed to self-cultivation can still make progress.
The Four Books
Zhu gathered the Great Learning, the Analects, the Mencius and the Doctrine of the Mean as the Four Books, with his own commentaries. From the Yuan dynasty until 1908, his edition was the basis of the imperial examinations.
Tradition
Chinese
Region
Southern Song China

Influences

Influenced by

Zhu Xi1130–1200

Influenced

Influenced by

Zhu Xi1130–1200

Influenced

Where these links come from
  • Zhu Xi drew on Confucius. Source: Kirill Thompson, Zhu Xi, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  • Zhu Xi drew on Mencius. Source: Kirill Thompson, Zhu Xi, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  • Zhu Xi drew on Zhou Dunyi. Source: Kirill Thompson, Zhu Xi, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  • Zhu Xi drew on Zhang Zai. Source: Kirill Thompson, Zhu Xi, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  • Zhu Xi drew on Cheng Yi. Source: Kirill Thompson, Zhu Xi, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  • Wang Yangming drew on and argued against Zhu Xi. Source: Bryan Van Norden, Wang Yangming, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  • Dai Zhen argued against Zhu Xi. Source: Frank Y. C. Chong and Chris Fraser, Dai Zhen, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Key works

Sources

  1. Kirill Thompson, Zhu Xi, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy