ABSTRACT
In Wang Yangming’s time literati who were intellectually dissatisfied with Cheng-Zhu philosophy might seek answers or alternatives in the rich philosophical worlds of Buddhism or Daoism. Late in 1509, Wang Yangming departed Guizhou to assume an assignment as a magistrate in Jiangxi, but he only served six months before being summoned to the capital for reassignment. Lu Cheng met Xu Ai and Wang Yangming in Nanjing in 1514 or 1515 when Xu was serving as deputy bureau director at the southern capital’s Ministry of War and Wang was serving as chief minister of the Nanjing Court of State Ceremonial. Lin Yuanxu and his younger brother Yuanlun were two of Wang Yangming’s students when he was living in Nanjing. Several of Wang Yangming’s students were individuals whom he had taught before and who made the journey to Chuzhou or Nanjing specifically to see him and learn more about his ideas.
