Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s7.t7.1

v1.c7.s7.t7.1

The philosophic thinking of Confucianism in Song and Ming dynasties was called “Lixue”, “Xinglixue” or “Daoxue”, each of those means Neo-Confucianism. The word “Neo-Confucianism” first appeared in Lou Guanfu’s memorial to the emperor that he used to asked a posthumous title for Zhou Dunyi. According to his statement, Lixue had already been reflected into people’s daily life, and later it begun to form a system by Confucius and then popularised by Zisi, and Mencius. During 1000 years from Han Dynasty to Tang Dynasties, different Confucians had different theories. However, the Confucianism restored its original appearance until Song and Ming Dynasties. Broadly speaking, “Lixue” includes “Xinxue”, which means the Neo-Confucian School of Mind and it is not contrary to “Lixue”. When the Confucians in Song Dynasty explained and interpreted Confucianism classics, they were against the ancient chapters kept exegetical study style from Han Dynasty to Tang Dynasty. On the contrary, they adhered to the principles of pursuing the Confucian classics argumentation, exploring the famous theories and even life, and their theories were called “Yilizhixue”, “Lixue” in short. Zhang Zai said “Yilizhixue needs to be further studied; otherwise, you won’t understand it completely by a superficial reading”; this statement has disclosed the complexity of Neo-Confucianism. “Lixue” takes the Confucianism as the core and