The Diversity of Confucianism in the Southern Song Dynasty: A Comparative Study of Zhu Xi's and Zhang Shi's Views on Taiji and Human Nature

Abstract

Abstract:Zhang Shi 張栻 (1133–80), a Confucian scholar of the Southern Song dynasty, has been considered as yielding to Zhu Xi's 朱熹 (1130–1200) ideas in most cases, his own thought exhibiting no specific features. This essay is an attempt to examine the differences between Zhu Xi's and Zhang Shi's supreme pivot (taiji 太極) and nature (xing 性) theories. The features of Zhang Shi's thought and his influence on the neo-Confucianism of the Southern Song dynasty should be reexamined. Some contemporary scholars, including Zhang Shi, have been ignored to a certain degree since Zhu Xi was praised as the representative scholar of neo-Confucianism. This study shows the diversity of neo-Confucianism in the Southern Song dynasty.