One scholar's reading list shaped how China's officials thought for six centuries
The 12th-century philosopher Zhu Xi synthesized centuries of Confucian thought into what's now called Neo-Confucianism, arguing everything in existence combines li, a rational ordering principle, with qi, physical vital force. He picked and annotated the 'Four Books' as the core curriculum for aspiring officials, and from 1313 until the exam system was abolished in 1905, passing China's civil service exams meant mastering Zhu Xi's specific interpretations of them.