that their students would become inevitably attached to them, despite their provisionality. Thus, the secret key is the spontaneous functioning free of preconception or attachment and appropriate to every circumstance. In accordance with Wang Ji's doctrine of original substance, i.e., direct enlightenment, original substance must be identical with effort, realization with cultivation, and nature with effort. He concluded that, should there be even a bit of discrepancy between these, the way of unity and oneness would be lost. Influence and Criticism Wang Yangming considered Wang Ji's ideas on intuitive knowing beyond good or evil to be those of the student of keen intelligence, while the views of other students who emphasized the moral character of passing thoughts were to instruct those of lesser knowing. However, he warned Longxi that "You should not show your interpretation to people. You cannot readily expect from them full realization of the unity of the original substance of the mind and effort. For it is not easy to find people of keen intelligence in this world. Otherwise they will imagine an original substance in a vacuum. Whatever they do will not be genuine. They will do no more than cultivate a mind of vacuity and quietness, and will make the mistake of skipping over [not following the proper steps]." In general, the schools of Wang Ji and the Taizhou school of Wang Gen were the only traditions of Yangmingist thought which adapted themselves to the romantic, emotional, and sensual mood of the late Ming dynasty, which was represented by such works as the novel the Golden Lotus (among many other vernacular dramas and novels centered around passion and emotion), the poetry of Yuan Hongdao, the painting of Xu Wei, and the calligraphy of Dong Qichang. The important late Ming individualist thinker Li Zhi's philosophy was heavily inspired by the thought of Wang Yangming and Wang Ji, particularly in the form of his conception of the "childlike mind". Huang Zongxi believed that Wang Ji distorted and corrupted the teachings of Wang Yangming through addition of Chan Buddhist elements. Notes References 15th-century Chinese philosophers Chinese Confucianists Idealists Wang Ji Wang Ji