The Cheng–Zhu school (), is one of the major philosophical schools of

Neo-Confucianism Neo-Confucianism (, often shortened to ''lǐxué'' 理學, literally "School of Principle") is a moral, ethical, and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, and originated with Han Yu (768–824) and Li Ao (772–841) in ...

, based on the ideas of the Neo-Confucian philosophers Cheng Yi,

Cheng Hao Chéng Hào (, 1032–1085), Courtesy name Bóchún (), was a Chinese philosopher and politician from Luoyang, China. In his youth, he and his younger brother Cheng Yi were students of Zhou Dunyi, one of the architects of Neo-Confucian ...

, and

Zhu Xi Zhu Xi (; ; October 18, 1130 – April 23, 1200), formerly romanized Chu Hsi, was a Chinese calligrapher, historian, philosopher, poet, and politician during the Song dynasty. Zhu was influential in the development of Neo-Confucianism. He con ...

. It is also referred to as the Rationalistic School.

Metaphysics

Zhu Xi's formulation of the Neo-Confucian world view is as follows. He believed that the () of () is expressed in principle or (), but that it is sheathed in matter or (). In this, his system is based on

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

systems of the time that divided things into principle (again, ), and (). In contrast to Buddhists and

Daoist Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Ta ...

s, 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.

Human nature and rationality

In the Neo-Confucian formulation, in itself is pure and almost-perfect, but with the addition of , base emotions and conflicts arise.

Human nature Human nature is a concept that denotes the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of thinking, feeling, and acting—that humans are said to have naturally. The term is often used to denote the essence of humankind, or ...

is originally good, the Neo-Confucians argued (following

Mencius Mencius ( ); born Mèng Kē (); or Mèngzǐ (; 372–289 BC) was a Chinese Confucian philosopher who has often been described as the "second Sage", that is, second to Confucius himself. He is part of Confucius' fourth generation of disciple ...

), but not pure unless action is taken to purify it. The imperative is then to purify one's . Different Neo-Confucians had differing ideas for how to do so. Zhu Xi believed in (), the 'investigation of things', essentially an academic form of

observation Observation is the active acquisition of information from a primary source. In living beings, observation employs the senses. In science, observation can also involve the perception and recording of data via the use of scientific instruments. Th ...

al science, based on the idea that li lies within the world.

References

Neo-Confucianism Rationalism Song dynasty Zhu Xi {{NeoConfucianism-stub History of Chinese philosophy