Song dynasty philosopher who synthesized Neo-Confucianism into its definitive systematic form — the Cheng-Zhu school — which became the orthodox interpretation of Confucianism for six centuries.
Everything has li (principle) and qi (material force) — principle is eternal and normative, qi is the medium of its instantiation. The investigation of things (gewu) requires exhaustive inquiry into the principles of things. The Four Books became the official canon for civil service examinations under Zhu Xi's commentaries.
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