Significance of History of Neo-Confucianism Attributed to Fujian Zhu Xi School of the Ming Dynasty

Fujian Zhu Xi School of the Ming Dynasty represented by Chen Zhen-sheng,Zhou Ying,Cai Qing,Zhang Yue,etc,contributed considerably to the development of Neo-Confucianism.Their contributions are best demonstrated by(1) the fact that the debate between Fujian Zhu Xi School and Wang Yangming School constituted the central clue that ran all the way through the history of academic development in the late mid-Ming Dynasty and resulted in the former school correcting the shortcomings of the latter school;(2) the fact that Fujian Zhu Xi School of the Ming Dynasty developed a profound tradition in the study of Confucian Classics,which played a crucial role in the movement of studying Confucian Classics in the Qing Dynasty;and(3) the fact that Fujian Zhu Xi School of the Ming Dynasty emphasized its philosophy of the Mind without negating the sound elements in the theorization of the Mind by Wang Yangming School,which shows that the former school took an open-minded approach to pursuing scholarship.