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Not to be confused with New Confucianism, a movement that emerged in the 20th Century.Neo-Confucianism ()/() is a form of
Confucianism that was primarily developed during the
Song Dynasty, but which can be traced back to
Han Yu and
Li Ao (772-841) in the
Tang Dynasty. It formed the basis of Confucian orthodoxy in the
Qing Dynasty of
China. It was a philosophy that attempted to merge certain basic elements of
Confucian,
Daoist, and
Buddhist thought. Most important of early Neo-Confucianists was the Chinese thinker
Zhu Xi (1130-1200).
Origins
thumb|The [[Vinegar tasters|Vinegar Tasters:
Laozi,
Buddha, and
Confucius.]]
Confucians of the
Song Dynasty (960-1279) studied the classical works of their faith, but were also familiar with
Buddhist and
Taoist teachings. Buddhist thought offered to them many things that they considered worthy of admiration, including ideas such as the nature of the soul and the relation of the individual to the cosmos, ideas not yet fully explored by Confucianism. Song Confucians drew greatly from Buddhist thought as well as their own traditions, thus giving rise to the English-language name of "Neo-Confucianism".
One of the most important exponents of Neo-Confucianism was
Zhu Xi (1130-1200). He was a rather prolific writer, maintaining and defending his Confucian beliefs of social harmony and proper personal conduct. One of his most remembered was the book
Family Rituals, where he provided detailed advice on how to conduct weddings, funerals, family ceremonies, and the veneration of ancestors. Buddhist thought soon attracted him, and he began to argue in Confucian style for the Buddhist observance of high moral standards. He also believed that it was important to practical affairs that one should engage in both academic and philosophical pursuits, although his writings are concentrated more on issues of theoretical (as opposed to practical) significance. It is reputed that he wrote many essays attempting to explain how his ideas were not Buddhist or Taoist, and included some heated denunciations of Buddhism and Taoism.
There were many competing views within the Neo-Confucian community, but overall, a system emerged that resembled both Buddhist and
Taoist (Daoist) thought of the time and some of the ideas expressed in the
Book of Changes (I Ching) as well as other
yin yang theories associated with the
Taiji symbol (
Taijitu). A well known Neo-Confucian motif is
paintings of
Confucius,
Buddha, and
Lao Tzu all drinking out of the same vinegar jar, paintings associated with the slogan "The three teachings are one!"
While Neo-Confucianism incorporated Buddhist and Taoist ideas, many Neo-Confucianists strongly oppose Buddhism and Taoism. Indeed, they rejected the Buddhist and Taoist religions. One of
Han Yu's most famous essays decries the worship of Buddhist
relics. Nonetheless, Neo-Confucian writings adapted Buddhist thoughts and beliefs to the Confucian interest. In
China Neo-Confucianism was an officially-recognized creed from its development during the Song dynasty until the early twentieth century, and lands in the sphere of Song China (
Korea,
Vietnam, and
Japan) were all deeply influenced by Neo-Confucianism for more than half a millennium.
World view
Zhu Xi's formulation of the Neo-Confucian world view is as follows. He believed that the
Tao () of
Tian () is expressed in principle or
li (), but that it is sheathed in matter or
qi (). In this, his system is based on Buddhist systems of the time that divided things into principle (again, li), and
shi (). In the Neo-Confucian formulation,
li in itself is pure and almost-perfect, but with the addition of
qi, base emotions and conflicts arise. Human nature is originally good, the Neo-Confucians argued (following
Mencius), but not pure unless action is taken to purify it. The imperative is then to purify one's
li. However, in contrast to Buddhists and Taoists, neo-Confucians did not believe in an external world unconnected with the world of matter. In addition, Neo-Confucians in general rejected the idea of reincarnation and the associated idea of
karma.
Different Neo-Confucians had differing ideas for how to do so. Zhu Xi believed in
gewu (), the Investigation of Things, essentially an academic form of
observational science, based on the idea that
li lies within the world.
Wang Yangming (Wang Shouren), probably the second most influential Neo-Confucian, came to another conclusion: namely, that if
li is in all things, and
li is in one's heart, there is no better place to seek than within oneself. His preferred method of doing so was
jingzuo (), a practice that strongly resembles
zazen or
Chan (Zen) meditation. Wang Yangming developed the idea of
innate knowing, arguing that every person knows from birth the difference between
good and
evil. Such knowledge is
intuitive and not
rational. These revolutionizing ideas of Wang Yangming would later inspire prominent Japanese thinkers like
Motoori Norinaga, who argued that because of the
Shinto deities, Japanese people alone had the intuitive ability to distinguish good and evil without complex rationalization. Wang Yangming's school of thought (
Ōyōmei-gaku in Japanese) also provided, in part, an ideological basis for some samurai who sought to pursue action based on intuition rather than scholasticism. As such, it also provided an intellectual foundation for the radical political actions of low ranking samurai in the decades prior to the Meiji Ishin (1868), in which the Tokugawa authority (1600-1868) was overthrown.
The importance of
li in Neo-Confucianism gave the movement its Chinese name, literally "The study of Li."
Bureaucratic examinations
Neo-Confucianism became the interpretation of Confucianism whose mastery was necessary to pass the
bureaucratic examinations by the
Ming, and continued in this way through the Qing dynasty until the end of the Imperial examination system in 1905. However, many scholars such as
Benjamin Elman have questioned the degree to which their role as the
orthodox interpretation in
state examinations reflects the degree to which both the
bureaucrats and
Chinese gentry actually believed those interpretations, and point out that there were very active schools such as
Han learning which offered competing interpretations of Confucianism.
The competing school of Confucianism was called the
Evidential School or
Han Learning and argued that Neo-Confucianism had caused the teachings of Confucianism to be hopelessly contaminated with Buddhist thinking. This school also criticized Neo-Confucianism for being detached from reality with empty philosophical speculation that was unconnected with reality.
Confucian canon
The Confucian canon as it exists today was essentially compiled by
Zhu Xi. Zhu codified the canon of
Four Books (the
Great Learning, the
Doctrine of the Mean, the
Analects of Confucius, and the
Mencius) which in the subsequent Ming and Qing Dynasties were made the core of the official curriculum for the civil service examinations.
Prominent neo-Confucian scholars
China
Japan
Korea
Vietnam
