From the Song to the Qing : Zhu Xi, Wang Yangming, Wang Fuzhi, Dai Zhen and others

In the second presentation, we move forward to the late empire, to the era of the philosophical discourse known as "Neo-Confucianism" in Sinological literature. We'll focus here on the two emblematic figures Zhu Xi (1130-1200) and Wang Yangming (1472-1529), and the polemic between them, at a distance of 350 years, in the form of exegetical writings on the Great Study (Daxue). Finally, we move on to the Qing dynasty and examine the metaphysical speculation of the famous scholar/critic Huang Zongxi (1610-1695), who presents himself in his lesser-known exegetical work on the thought of Mencius(Mengzi shishuo), according to his own spiritual master Liu Zongzhou (1578-1645). Finally, we come to the most profound philosopher of the time, Wang Fuzhi (1619-1692), a formidable scholar who formulates almost all his arguments in the form of canonical exegesis, and we observe how he touches the bottom of the substratum of material existence and the faculty of integrative intelligence of human consciousness in his interpretations on the Four Books.