Wang Yang Ming
medievalNeo-Confucianism (School of Mind / Xinxue)1472 – 1529
Wang Yangming (Wang Shouren, 1472–1529) was a Chinese philosopher, statesman, and military commander of the Ming dynasty who became the foremost representative of the School of Mind (Xinxue) within Neo-Confucianism. Reacting against the externalist 'investigation of things' championed by Zhu Xi, he argued that moral principle is not found in external objects but resides fully within the mind itself. His doctrines of the unity of knowledge and action and innate moral knowledge (liangzhi) proved enormously influential across East Asia.
Notable Achievements
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Developed the doctrine of the unity of knowledge and action (zhixing heyi), arguing that genuine moral knowledge necessarily issues in action
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Articulated the concept of innate moral knowledge (liangzhi) as the foundation of ethical cultivation
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Challenged Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucian orthodoxy by locating moral principle entirely within the mind rather than in external investigation
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Founded the Lu-Wang school of Neo-Confucianism, which became a major intellectual current in China, Korea, and Japan
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