Neo-Confucianism

Neo-Confucianism (<a href="/facts/Traditional_Chinese_characters/bBFLkuz7">Chinese</a>: 宋明理學; <a href="/facts/Pinyin/pUwjfMXg">pinyin</a>: Sòng-Míng lǐxué, often shortened to lǐxué 理學, literally "School of Principle") is a <a href="/facts/Morality/CSjHHvff">moral</a>, <a href="/facts/Ethics/wNVNgL5q">ethical</a>, and <a href="/facts/Metaphysics/fSFt6SHe">metaphysical</a> <a href="/facts/Chinese_philosophy/Tx4ruDzB">Chinese philosophy</a> influenced by <a href="/facts/Confucianism/Nlbwgmxw">Confucianism</a>, which originated with <a href="/facts/Han_Yu/WSRkcKDu">Han Yu</a> (768–824) and <a href="/facts/Li_Ao_(philosopher)/g4SBA3Xq">Li Ao</a> (772–841) in the <a href="/facts/Tang_dynasty/FFhmVfwM">Tang dynasty</a>, and became prominent during the <a href="/facts/Song_dynasty/FxV5bXS5">Song</a> and <a href="/facts/Ming_dynasty/p3bSVwUH">Ming</a> dynasties under the formulations of <a href="/facts/Zhu_Xi/y36Wj3eY">Zhu Xi</a> (1130–1200). After the <a href="/facts/Mongol_conquest_of_China/NxpGjyH7">Mongol conquest of China</a> in the thirteenth century, Chinese scholars and officials restored and preserved neo-Confucianism as a way to safeguard the cultural heritage of China.
Neo-Confucianism could have been an attempt to create a more rationalist and secular form of Confucianism by rejecting mystical elements of <a href="/facts/Taoism/Bk79rd9J">Taoism</a> and <a href="/facts/Buddhism/G0wsjrSl">Buddhism</a> that had influenced Confucianism during and after the Han dynasty. Although the neo-Confucianists were critical of Taoism and Buddhism, the two did have an influence on the philosophy, and the neo-Confucianists borrowed terms and concepts. However, unlike the Buddhists and Taoists, who saw <a href="/facts/Metaphysics/fSFt6SHe">metaphysics</a> as a catalyst for spiritual development, religious enlightenment, and immortality, the neo-Confucianists used metaphysics as a guide for developing a rationalist ethical philosophy.

Neo-Confucianism open-in-new

Neo-Confucianism