HIST 4618 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Zhu Xi, Great Learning, Analects
20 Mar 2019
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Document Summary
Li (principle) is the fact that the universe is not bound by form. Qi (energy) gives form to all things in the world by interacting with li. Gewu zhizhi is the investigation of things to gain knowledge. Confucianism is still a scripture based religion, but you need to study the world around you too. The curriculum changed too with four new books. Means, mencius (a collection of confucius sayings), and analects. These books simplified the educational curriculum for the religion. Buddhism s popularity, the civil service exam, and the constant pressure from the nomadic northern empires. All of these factors contributed to the rise of neo-confucianism. As its popularity continued to soar, more people began to study neo-confucianism to achieve success on the test. Many people did not like worshipping foreign gods and ghosts. So, strengthening the religion made it more popular as they continued to keep out foreign threats.
