Cause & Context
Since the Northern Song, Confucianism absorbing Buddhism and Daoism thought had formed a new theoretical form, urgently requiring a master who could systematically integrate the various views of all schools. Song-era scholar-officials had strong spiritual demand for Confucian revival.
Epochal Overview
annotated the Four Books into the Collected Commentaries on the Four Books in Chapter and Verse and proposed the Neo-Confucian core proposition of preserve heavenly principle and eliminate human desire. At the Goose Lake meeting he debated mind and nature with and finally established the systematic Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism system.
Civilizational Impact
's Neo-Confucianism was set by the Yuan, Ming, and Qing three dynasties as official ideology and core examination content, deeply shaping seven hundred years of East Asian intellectual elite's spiritual world. It later transmitted to Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, becoming the spiritual bond of the East Asian cultural sphere.
Key Figures
was the great philosopher and educator who comprehensively gathered Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism. was the pioneer of Mind School; the two's Goose Lake debate laid the foundation pattern for Neo-Confucianism and Mind School to stand side by side and contend in brilliance.