Xin'an Neo-Confucianism

Xin'an Neo-Confucianism is an orthodox school of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism. Its founders, Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi, as well as Zhu Xi, the synthesizer of Neo-Confucianism, all had their ancestral home in Huangdun, Huizhou. From the early Southern Song Dynasty to the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, it persisted in Huizhou for over 600 years and exerted a significant influence on Huizhou's social economy and culture. The core of Xin'an Neo-Confucianism lies in ethical norms. Meanwhile, it advocated the idea of valuing learning that "the essential way to explore principles lies in reading", the thoughts that "heavenly principle is righteousness, human desire is profit" and "uphold righteousness without seeking profit, clarify the way without counting merit", as well as the thought of integrity that emphasizes "governing internal affairs" and "resisting foreign tribes".

Xin'an Neo-Confucianism is one of the important branches of Zhuzi Studies. This school is mainly composed of Neo-Confucian scholars from Huizhou, taking Zhu Xi, whose ancestral home was Wuyuan in Huizhou (now belonging to Jiangxi), as the founding master, and its basic purpose is to maintain, inherit and carry forward Zhuzi Studies.

During its nearly 700-year development and evolution, Xin'an Neo-Confucianism roughly went through four periods: The first is the formation period in the Southern Song Dynasty. Important representatives of this period include Zhu Xi, Cheng Dachang, Wu Jing, Wang Shen, Li Zeng, Cheng Yongqi, Wu Chang, etc. They gathered around Zhu Xi, delved into the study of nature and principle, wrote books and established theories, thus establishing the basic principle of the school that takes Zhuzi Studies as its tenet. The second is the development period from the late Song and early Yuan Dynasties to the Yuan Dynasty. The main representatives of this period are Cheng Ruoyong, Hu Fangping, Hu Yigui, Xu Yueqing, Chen Yue, Hu Bingwen, Ni Shiyi, Wang Kekuan, etc. In response to the academic situation where "heterodox theories" emerged one after another after Zhu Xi, they dedicated themselves to maintaining the purity of Zhuzi Studies, taking rejecting "heterodox theories" and expounding the original meaning of Zhuzi Studies as the focus of academic research. Meanwhile, Xin'an Neo-Confucianists in the Yuan Dynasty advocated "integrity" and refused to serve the Yuan Dynasty, focusing their energy on giving lectures and teaching disciples, and cultivating a group of Xin'an Neo-Confucian scholars with certain achievements and influence. During this period, Xin'an Neo-Confucianism witnessed new phenomena such as a large number of talented people emerging, academic research deepening, and a great number of popular books appearing. The third is the period from the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasties to the Ming Dynasty, when it reached its peak and then declined. The main representatives of this period include Zheng Yu, Zhu Sheng, Zhao Fang, Zhu Tong, Fan Zhun, Cheng Minzheng, Wang Daokun, Cheng Wende, Pan Shizao, etc. Zheng Yu, Zhu Sheng, Zhao Fang and others in the early Ming Dynasty, on the basis of criticizing the shortcomings of Neo-Confucianists in the Yuan Dynasty who stuck to their own schools and clung to the established theories of their teachers, put forward new propositions for studying classics that emphasized seeking "fundamental ability", "true knowledge" and "practical principles", and conducted academic research under the guidance of these ideas, forming different academic styles: some "annotated various classics" to expound Zhuzi Studies, while others "reconciled Zhu and Lu" to carry forward the tenet of their own school. In terms of academic achievements and characteristics, this is one of the most rich and brilliant periods in the development history of Xin'an Neo-Confucianism. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, scholars of Xin'an Neo-Confucianism, influenced by "Mind Studies", were ineffective in interpreting Zhuzi Studies, and the whole school showed signs of decline. The fourth is the ending period in the Qing Dynasty. Important representatives of this period include Jiang Yong, Dai Zhen, Cheng Yaotian, etc. Under the influence of the academic atmosphere in the early Qing Dynasty, they advocated Han Studies and cultivated a group of Xin'an classicists who were good at textual research, ultimately realizing the transformation of Huizhou's local academic from Xin'an Neo-Confucianism to Huizhou School of Pu Studies.

The evolution process of Xin'an Neo-Confucianism from the Southern Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty is a microcosm of China's history of philosophy and academic thought after the 12th century. It had a huge impact on the development of Chinese history in the late feudal society, especially on the development of Huizhou society during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.