Wikipedia
Neo-Confucianism (, often shortened to lixue 理學) is a moral, ethical, and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, and originated with Han Yu and Li Ao (772-841) in the Tang Dynasty, and became prominent during the Song and Ming dynasties.
Neo-Confucianism was an attempt to create a more rationalist and secular form of Confucianism by rejecting superstitious and mystical elements of Taoism and Buddhism that had influenced Confucianism during and after the Han Dynasty. Although the Neo-Confucianists were critical of Taoism and Buddhism, the two did have an influence on the philosophy, and the Neo-Confucianists borrowed terms and concepts from both. However, unlike the Buddhists and Taoists, who saw metaphysics as a catalyst for spiritual development, religious enlightenment, and immortality, the Neo-Confucianists used metaphysics as a guide for developing a rationalist ethical philosophy.
Usage examples of "neo-confucianism".
And from this standpoint Neo-Confucianism, in keeping with all other Confucian schools, was primarily concerned with the conduct and affairs of people in the here and now.
In philosophy, too, scholars expressed much diversity of opinion, often in opposition to Chu Hsi Neo-Confucianism, which, as we have seen, was officially championed as an orthodoxy by the shogunate from at least the late seventeenth century through its patronage of the Hayashi family of Confucian scholars.