Zhang Zai

Like many Song philosophers, Zhang was initially frustrated with Confucian thought and studied Buddhism along with Daoism for a number of years.

In 1069 CE Zhang was suggested to the Emperor and given a place in the capital's government, but not long after he ran into disagreement with the prime minister and retired to his home Hengqu, where he spent his time studying and teaching.

Zhu Xi collected selections of Zhang's writings in his anthology of Song Study of the Way known as Reflections on Things at Hand zh:近思錄.

In its dispersed, rarefied state, qi is invisible and insubstantial, but when it condenses it becomes a solid or liquid and takes on new properties.

Third, the change of anything from condensation to dispersion, or from visibility to invisibility does not imply the idea of quantitative extinction of the thing in question.

Fourth, Zhang Zai stresses the fact that although the creation and transformation of manifold things can be reduced to one uniform pattern (the interaction of the yin and yang) nothing in the entire universe is the repetition of something else.

He states that the cosmos depends on nothing to be its first mover, for the qi as such is a vital and self-moving force that alone makes all change and motion possible (Huang (1968)).

The doctrine illustrates as well Zhang Zai's belief in the fundamental goodness and purpose of the universe and in the potential of the individual to realize the ideal of the sage.

In the teaching of "forming one body with the universe," Zhang Zai also claimed to distinguish Confucianism clearly from Buddhism and Daoism.

For Zhang Zai, such a view is clearly distinguishable from Daoism and Buddhism, both of which require a radical departure from the universe as it is given in order to fulfill the soteriological quest.

"[3] Zhang Zai's offspring held the title of Wujing Boshi (五经博士; 五經博士; Wǔjīng Bóshì).