'search for evidence'[1]), alternatively called kaoju xue (考據學; 'evidential scholarship') was a Chinese school of thought emphasizing philology that was active during the Qing dynasty (1644–1912) from c. 1600 to 1850.
[4] Some of the most important first generation of Qing thinkers were Ming loyalists, at least in their hearts, including Gu Yanwu, Huang Zongxi, and Fang Yizhi.
Partly in reaction to the presumed laxity and excess of the late Ming, they turned to kaozheng, or evidential learning, which emphasized careful textual study and critical thinking.
[4] Rather than regarding kaozheng as a local phenomenon around Jiangnan and Beijing, it has been proposed to view it as a general trend in development of Chinese scholarship in light of contribution of Cui Shu (1740–1816).
[4] Towards the end of the Qing and in the early 20th century, reform scholars such Liang Qichao, Hu Shih and Gu Jiegang saw in kaozheng a step towards development of empirical mode of scholarship and science in China.