ABSTRACT
A major thinker of the Northern Song (960-1126), Shao Yong (1012-1077) is known as one of the five founders of neo-Confucianism. His style name was Yaofu, his honorific was Kangjie, and he was called Teacher Peace-and-Happiness (Anle xiansheng), after the name of his home in Luoyang. Shao Yong is most famous for his ideas on numerology and foreknowledge associated with the Yijing (Book of Change), but he was concerned with many other issues as well, including those relating to knowledge and experience. Unlike many philosophers, Shao was popular among both the elite and the masses. His widespread appeal may be explained in part by the scope and imagination of his thought, which addressed such topics as patterns of cosmic change, practices concerning prediction, standards for philosophical judgments, achieving sagely knowledge and unity with the cosmos, and delighting in the experiences of life.
