Zhu Xi
Zhu Xi, formerly romanized Chu Hsi, was a Chinese philosopher, historian, politician, poet, and calligrapher of the Southern Song dynasty. As a leading figure in the development of Neo-Confucianism, Zhu Xi played a pivotal role in shaping the intellectual foundations of later imperial China. He placed great emphasis on rationality, opposed mysticism and religious experience, and constructed a huge philosophical system. His extensive commentaries and editorial work on the Four Books became the core texts of the imperial civil service examinations from 1313 until their abolition in 1905. He advanced a rigorous philosophical methodology known as the "investigation of things" and emphasized meditation as an essential practice for moral and intellectual self-cultivation. Zhu Xi's thought exerted profound influence, becoming the official state ideology of China from the Yuan dynasty onward, and was later adopted in other East Asian countries such as Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. In these regions, his Neo-Confucian doctrines were institutionalized through educational systems and civil service examinations, shaping political ideologies, social hierarchies, and cultural values for centuries.
Zhu was a scholar with a wide learning in the classics, commentaries, histories and other writings of his predecessors. In his lifetime, he was able to serve multiple times as a government official, although he avoided public office for most of his adult life. He also wrote, compiled and edited almost a hundred books and corresponded with dozens of other scholars. He acted as a teacher to groups of students, many of whom chose to study under him for years. He built upon the teachings of the Cheng brothers and others, further developing their metaphysical theories in regards to Li and Qi. His followers recorded thousands of his conversations in writing.
Life
Zhu Xi, whose family originated in Wuyuan County, Huizhou, was born in Fujian, where his father worked as the subprefectural sheriff. After his father was forced from office due to his opposition to the government appeasement policy towards the Jurchen in 1140, Zhu Xi received instruction from his father at home. Many anecdotes attest that he was a highly precocious child. It was recorded that at age five he ventured to ask what lay beyond Heaven, and by eight he understood the significance of the Classic of Filiality. As a youth, he was inspired by Mencius' proposition that anyone could become a sage. Upon his father's death in 1143, he studied with his father's friends Hu Xian, Liu Zihui, and Liu Mianzhi. In 1148, at the age of 19, Zhu Xi passed the Imperial Examination and became a presented scholar. Zhu Xi's first official dispatch position was as Subprefectural Registrar of Tong'an, which he served from 1153 - 1156. From 1153 he began to study under Li Tong, who followed the Neo-Confucian tradition of Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi, and formally became his student in 1160.In 1179, after not serving in an official capacity since 1156, Zhu Xi was appointed Prefect of Nankang Military District, where he revived White Deer Grotto Academy. and got demoted three years later for attacking the incompetency and corruption of some influential officials. There were several instances of receiving an appointment and subsequently being demoted. Upon dismissal from his last appointment, he was accused of numerous crimes and a petition was made for his execution. Much of this opposition was headed by Han Tuozhou, the Prime Minister, who was a political rival of Zhu's. Even though his teachings had been severely attacked by establishment figures, almost a thousand brave people attended his funeral. After the death of Han Tuozhou, Zhu's successor Zhen Dexiu, together with Wei Liaoweng, made Zhu's branch of Neo-Confucianism the dominant philosophy at the Song Court.
In 1208, eight years after his death, Emperor Ningzong of Song rehabilitated Zhu Xi and honored him with the posthumous name of Wen Gong, meaning "Venerable gentleman of culture". Around 1228, Emperor Lizong of Song honored him with the posthumous noble title Duke of Hui. In 1241, a memorial tablet to Zhu Xi was placed in the Confucian Temple at Qufu, thereby elevating him to Confucian sainthood. Today, Zhu Xi is venerated as one of the "Twelve Philosophers" of Confucianism. Modern Sinologists and Chinese often refer to him as Zhu Wen Gong in lieu of his name.
Teachings
The Four Books
During the Song dynasty, Zhu Xi's teachings were considered to be unorthodox. Rather than focusing on the I Ching like other Neo-Confucians, he chose to emphasize the Four Books: the Great Learning, the Doctrine of the Mean, the Analects of Confucius, and the Mencius as the core curriculum for aspiring scholar officials. For all these classics he wrote extensive commentaries that were not widely recognized in his time; however, they later became accepted as the standard commentaries. The Four Books served as the basis of civil service examinations up until 1905, and education in the classics often began with Zhu Xi's commentaries as the cornerstone for understanding them.The sources of Zhu Xi's new approach to the Confucian curriculum have been found in several works of the Cheng brothers. Zhu Xi "codified the Cheng brothers' teachings and reworked them into his own philosophical program," moving "from philology to philosophy."
Li, Qi, and the Supreme Ultimate
Zhu Xi maintained that all things are brought into being by the union of two universal aspects of reality: qi ; and li. The source and sum of li is the taiji, meaning the Supreme Ultimate. The source of qi is not so clearly stated by Zhu Xi, leading some authorities to maintain that he was a metaphysical monist and others to maintain that he was a metaphysical dualist.According to Zhu Xi's theory, every physical object and every person has its li and therefore has contact in its metaphysical core with the taiji. What is referred to as the human soul, mind, or spirit is understood as the taiji, or the supreme creative principle, as it works its way out in a person.
Qi and li operate together in mutual dependence. They are mutually aspective in all creatures in the universe. These two aspects are manifested in the creation of substantial entities. When their activity is waxing, that is the yang energy mode. When their activity is waning, that is the yin energy mode. The yang and yin phases constantly interact, each gaining and losing dominance over the other. In the process of the waxing and waning, the alternation of these fundamental vibrations, the so-called five elements evolve. Zhu Xi argues that li existed even before Heaven and Earth.
In terms of li and qi, Zhu Xi's system strongly resembles Buddhist ideas of li and shi, though Zhu Xi and his followers strongly argued that they were not copying Buddhist ideas. Instead, they held, they were using concepts already present long before in the I Ching.
Zhu Xi discussed how he saw the Supreme Ultimate concept to be compatible with principle of Taoism, but his concept of taiji was different from the understanding of Tao in Taoism. Where taiji is a differentiating principle that results in the emergence of something new, Tao is still and silent, operating to reduce all things to equality and indistinguishability. He argued that there is a central harmony that is not static or empty but was dynamic, and that the Supreme Ultimate is itself in constant creative activity.