Other lordship · The Southern Song of Zhao Kuo (Ningzong) · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Zhedong schools

Three clusters of teachers in the east are the real intellectual power the ban fell on.

The Yongjia school of Wenzhou (Chen Fuliang of Rui'an and Ye Shi), which argues from institutions and public policy, against the moralists; the Yongkang school of Wuzhou (Chen Liang, died 1194, whose followers outlive him); and the Lü circle of Jinhua in Wuzhou (the philosopher Lü Zuqian, d. 1181, whose Lize academy and brothers keep his name alive: his brother Lü Zutai is the man of the October 1200 memorial). In Mingzhou the heirs of the Lu Jiuyuan mind-school and local teachers such as Yang Jian, Yuan Xie and Shu Lin (the 'Four Masters of Mingzhou' with Shen Huan) teach beside the great Shi family.

They do not agree with Zhu Xi on every point, but the ban lumps them together. The list of the proscribed (zh.wikipedia, Qingyuan dangjin) names Chen Fuliang (Zhongshu sheren, Wenzhou), Ye Shi (Taifu shaoqing and Huaidong paymaster-general, Wenzhou), Xu Yi (acting vice minister of Works, Wenzhou), Yang Jian (erudite of the Imperial Academy, Mingzhou) and Yuan Xie (erudite of the Taixue, Mingzhou), with their offices as of the listing. Their strength is in the examination, in the Ministry offices where their pupils sit, and in local gentry lineages that pay for schools, bridges and granaries.

Who he is

Name
Chen Fuliang of Rui'an (Wenzhou), Ye Shi of Wenzhou, the Lü circle at Jinhua, the Mingzhou teachers; no single head
Title
Leading teachers of Zhedong (eastern Zhejiang) learning
Since
Chen Fuliang: jinshi in the 1160s
Born
Chen Fuliang 1137, Ye Shi 1150 (not re-checked)
Family
Not pinned
Confidence
medium

zh.wikipedia, Qingyuan dangjin (checked: Chen Fuliang, Ye Shi, Xu Yi, Yang Jian and Yuan Xie are named, with offices); the campaign board's note on the Yongjia teachers; general knowledge of the Zhedong schools.

Overlord

None; the teachers hold no office. Their lineages are local gentry.

What it holds

  • Academies and lineage schools of Wenzhou, Wuzhou and Mingzhou
  • Pupils in office in every circuit
  • The Lize academy of Jinhua (location approximate)

How it was acquired

The Zhedong schools date from the Northern Song and grew under Gaozong and Xiaozong.

Allies and rivals

Allied with the proscribed party; rivals of the Fujian moralists on method; hostile to Han Tuozhou; the Shi of Mingzhou are both patrons and rivals.

How things stand that morning

Banned or watched, but the ban is mostly felt as exclusion from office. The local gentry carry on.

Wealth

Gentry estates and fees; the commerce of Wenzhou and Mingzhou behind them.

Threats

  • Further impeachments
  • The loss of pupils in office at Han Tuozhou's next purge

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

  1. 20 October 1200Lü Zutai's confinement, a Jinhua man's act of defiance.Depends on: The ban in force.

Places of note

  • Yongjia (Wenzhou) teachers: Yongjia school: Chen Fuliang, Ye Shi
  • Rui'an: Chen Fuliang's home county
  • Yongkang (Wuzhou): Yongkang school (Chen Liang d. 1194)
  • Jinhua (Wuzhou), Lize academy: The Lü circle, Lize academy (location approximate)

Where the sources disagree

  • The assignment names Zhu Xi at Jianyang; Kaoting is on the Fujian sheet's ground, so the Zhu Xi school's centre is not drawn here.

Evidence: The names and offices on the list are checked on zh.wikipedia; birth dates and school details are from general knowledge; we did not re-read their biographies.

On the map: Markers only.

Primary sources for Southern Song

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

  • Continuation of the Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government, Bi Yuan (畢沅), completed by Feng Jiwu after his death (late eighteenth century, finished after 1801, from Song and Yuan sources). A Qing scholar's continuous month-by-month chronicle of the Song and Yuan centuries, compiled from the Song shi, the Liao, Jin and Yuan histories, Li Tao, Li Xinchuan and other Song sources. Read online
  • Outline and Details of Two Reigns (thirteenth century, after 1224). A Song outline-and-detail chronicle of exactly the two reigns around 1200, drawn from the court's daily records. Read online
  • Annals of the Western Xia, Wu Guangcheng (吳廣成) (1825 to 1827, compiled from Song, Liao, Jin and Yuan sources). A Qing scholar's year-by-year reconstruction of Tangut history from the Chinese histories, since the Xia left no surviving annals of their own in Chinese. Read online
  • History of the Song, Toqto'a (脫脫) and the Yuan history office (1343 to 1345, from the Song veritable records, state histories and the Huiyao). The official history of the Southern Song, which ruled from Lin'an (Hangzhou) in 1200. Read online
  • History of Song, chapters 488 and 489: Jiaozhi, Dali, Champa, Zhenla, Pagan, Srivijaya, Java, Brunei, Chola and Tambralinga, Toqto'a (Tuotuo) and the Yuan history office, from the Song court records (1343 to 1345, from Song veritable records and court diaries). The Chinese court's record of its southern neighbours, compiled from Song archives. Read online
  • History of the Jin, Toqto'a (脫脫) and the Yuan history office, with Ouyang Xuan among the chief compilers (1343 to 1344, from the Jin veritable records and the Jin national history). The official history of the Jurchen empire that ruled north China and Manchuria in 1200. Read online
  • History of the Song, the chapters on Xia and on foreign states, Toqto'a (脫脫) and the Yuan history office (1343 to 1345). The Song court's accounts of its neighbours, each arranged as an annal of embassies and wars. Read online
  • Record of the Great Jin State, Attributed to Yuwen Maozhao (宇文懋昭); the attribution is doubtful (preface dated 1234; probably assembled in the Southern Song from Song and Jin material, with later accretions). A Song-side history of the Jin, with annals for each emperor and chapters on institutions, customs, the capitals and the Jurchen way of life. Read online

12 more in the sources library for South China.

Sources and studies

  1. zh.wikipedia, Qingyuan dangjin (the list of the proscribed)
  2. OMNIA board, area sce notes (a lead, not a source)
  3. General knowledge of Song administrative and economic history (Hartwell, Von Glahn, Smith and Twitchett eds., Cambridge History of China vol. 5 part 2), not re-checked line by line in this pass

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.