The Political Thought of Ye Shi

During the Southern Song period (1127-1271), the movement of Neo-Confucianism entered a new phase. Instead of striving for political clout as bureaucrats, Confucian scholars in the Southern Song focused on establishing their positions in local communities. Starting in the twelfth century, scholars in the Zhejiang Province became a major intellectual power. This project will focus on one of the most important figures of the Zhejiang school, Ye Shi, asking how his utilitarian (shigong) ideas were different from other Neo-Confucian scholars and why he was an important minister and thinker during his lifetime. Ye Shi's idea of 'Six Classics as History' gave a new solution to a long-term debate between Confucian Classics and History. His idea of Neo-Confucianism was very influential to the second wave of Neo-Confucianism in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).