【正文】 Plato’s Forms or Ideas that defines the essence of the being,and qi, its material form. NeoConfucianism ranks as important cultural development for two ,it illustrates the deep influence of Buddhism in Chinese though the neoConfucians rejected Buddhism as a faith,their writings adapted Buddhist themes and reasoning to Confucian interests and ,neoConfucianism influenced east Asian thought over a very long ,neoConfucianism enjoyed the status of an officially recognized creed from the Song dynasty until the early twentieth century,and in lands that fell within China’s cultural orbitparticularly Korea,Vietnam,and JapanneoConfucianism shaped philosophical,political,and moral thought for half a millennium and more. ( Jerry ,Herbert amp。 encounters:a global perspective on the past[M].New York,McGrawHill Higher Education,2021.) Sung golden age The Sung emperors wete markedly passive in their external relations pared to their Han and Tang predecessors They did not begin with great campaigns reestablishing imperial frontiers in the heart of the second Sung emperor modestly attempted to regain from nomad control merely the territoty between Peking and the Great he was disastrously defeated,and his successor gave up claim to this region,and even paid the nomads an annual “gift”,which in fact was thinly veiled the Sung never recovered the northeast territories in Manchuria,nor the northwest territoties that provided access to the overland routes to the west. This was a grave weakness for the Sung dynasty,leaving it vulnerable to nomadic policy of paying“gift”proved viable foe a century and a half,but disaster came when a Sung emperor made a rash attempt to recover the northeastern was encouraged to do so when the ruling nomads in that region were defeated by newers from North advantage of what appeared to be an opportunity,the emperor sent his armies into of easy victory they sustained a crushing defeat that was followed by massive invasion of North Sung defenses crumpled and the dynasty was left only with the Yangtze Valley in central China,and the lands to the the second half of the dynasty,from 1127 to 1279,is known as the Southern Sung。the prehensive dynastic histories written by teams of scholars。the art of calligraphy,depicted on scrolls prized as highly as paintings。the priceless invention of printing that was utilized for the mass duplication and distribution of Buddhist scriptures。s problems. Widespread printing brought increased literacy and a broader elite, and private academies and state schools sent increasing numbers of candidates through the Chinese examination system. In the 12th century, Zhu Xi systemized NeoConfucianism. The Song was also an era of scholarship: groundbreaking treatises on architecture and botany were published, as was the famous history Zizhi tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government) of Sima Guang. Landscape painting is said to have reached its peak during the Northern Song, which was also famous for its magnificent architecture. See also Taizu Chinese examination system .In China, system of petitive examinations for recruiting officials that linked state and society and dominated education from the Song dynasty (960 – 1279) onward, though its roots date to the imperial university established in the Han dynasty (206 BC – AD 220). Candidates faced fierce petition in a series of exams dealing primarily with Confucian texts and conducted on the prefectural, provincial, and national levels. Despite a persistent tendency to emphasize rote learning over original thinking and form over substance, the exams managed to produce an elite grounded in a mon body of teachings and to lend credibility to claims of meritocracy. Too inflexible to be capable of modernization, the system was finally abolished in 1905. Confucianism. Scholarly tradition and way of life propagated by Confucius in the 6th – 5th century BC and followed by the Chinese for more than two millennia. Though not anized as a religion, it has deeply influenced East Asian spiritual and political life in a parable manner. The core idea is ren (humaneness, benevolence), signifying excellent character in accord with li (ritual norms), zhong (loyalty to one39。s stern morality led hi