Wang Yangming

Wang Yangming, born Wang Shouren, was a Ming-dynasty Chinese scholar-official, general, and philosopher. A leading figure of Neo-Confucianism (a revival of Confucian thought), he is best known for the doctrines of the "unity of knowing and acting" (zhixing heyi) and the "extension of innate moral knowing" (zhi liangzhi) — the claim that every person possesses an intuitive capacity to recognize good, which genuine knowledge and moral action realize together. His idealist reading challenged the then-dominant Cheng-Zhu school. He also served as a provincial governor and led military campaigns. His ideas shaped later thought across China, Korea, and Japan.