Song Dynasty (1130–1200) · Neo-Confucianism
Zhu Xi (1130–1200) was a leading Song Dynasty scholar-official and the most influential systematizer of Neo-Confucianism. He synthesized the work of earlier Confucian thinkers, particularly the Cheng brothers, into a comprehensive philosophical framework centered on li (principle) and qi (material force). His commentaries on the Four Books became the orthodox basis for the Chinese civil service examinations for centuries.