ABSTRACT
The traditional division of neo-Confucianism into the school of li, principle, and the school of xin , heart-mind, is too restrictive, the author include here a description of two other schools: the school of qi, vital force, and the school of xing , human nature, to provide an account that expresses more completely the varieties of this Confucian revival. While Confucianism was banned in the Qin dynasty, which practiced Legalism, it eventually became the state ideology in the Han dynasty. Confucianism was only one of the so-called one hundred schools of the Spring-Autumn and Warring States periods. The school of qi is most closely linked with Zhang Zai. Both Daoism and Buddhism talk about being and nonbeing. Zhang Zai argues that being and nonbeing can both be explained by qi. Although Mou Zongsan regarded Zhou Dunyi as part of the school of xing there is no doubt that the philosopher most responsible for this school is Hu Hong.
