Two Great Scholars

In the Southern Song Dynasty，the great scholar Zhu Xi（1130-1200）collectively called The Great Learning，The Doctrine of the Mean，TheAnalects of Confucius，and The Book of Mencius，The Four Books，and made some annotations about them.After that，The Four Books became the must-read books of the intellectuals.In the Yuan Dynasty，exams were based solely on these books.Because of Zhu Xi，Confucianism’s ideological philosophy became the mainstream thought of the Song，Yuan and Ming Dynasties.

The most influential Confucian thinker of the Ming Dynasty is Wang Yangming（1472-1529）.He developed an expansive notion of education in terms of audience and methods.

Because he wanted to reach all people，Wang used strategies from the popular religions，Buddhism and Taoism，as well as more spiritual，populist，and action-oriented strands within Confucianism.Wang was not interested in definitions，but in results.Wang’s teachings clearly contained radical implications，and he intellectually prepared the ground for his late Ming followers to actualize his populist ideals.

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