with philological minutiae, the debate between the Neo-Confucianists and the adherents of Han learning had considerable repercussions, weakening the cosmological underpinnings of the imperial state, although not its political dominance. Han Learning and Song Learning were eventually blended into a new school of thought during the late Qing. This Qing era revival movement called for rationalist and practical evidential research in fields such as astronomy, linguistics, mathematics, geography and technology, to counter the metaphysical speculation of Neo-Confucianism. These scholars also sought to reform the Imperial examinations which they criticised as outdated. Scholars involved included Wang Fuzhi, Gu Yanwu, Yan Yuan, Li Gong, Dai Zhen, Duan Yucai, Ji Yun, Zhang Xuecheng, Ruan Yuan, and Liao Ping. In the late Qing period, Han Learning appealed to many reformers and revolutionaries such as Kang Youwei, who eventually became a monarchist; Tan Sitong a fervent anti-Manchu polemicist; and Liu Shipei a devout nationalist who was first a revolutionary and an anarchist then a supporter of Yuan Shikai. Cui Shu went further and rejected Han learning in an attempt to recover pre-Han Confucianism. Political activity According to B. Elman, many Han Learning proponents were involved in opposition to Heshen's clique (1746–1799), thus suggesting that typical portrayal of this group as apolitical should be reconsidered. Medicine A remarkable parallel to the revival of Han learning in the late imperial period is provided by development of the Han medicine (Kampo in Japan). Same as Han learning stood in the opposition to the intellectual trend of the three previous dynasties, Han medicine was a reaction against the standard of Song-Ming medicine (the so-called "neo-Confucianization of the body"). See also Neo-Confucianism Old Texts References Confucian schools of thought