▁the ▁Tang ▁dynast y ▁( 6 1 8 – 9 0 7 ). ▁During ▁later ▁Chinese ▁dynast ies ▁like ▁Song ▁D ynast y ▁( 9 6 0 – 1 2 9 7 ) ▁and ▁the ▁M ing ▁D ynast y ▁( 1 3 6 8 – 1 6 4 4 ) ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁in ▁the ▁Korean ▁Jose on ▁dynast y ▁( 1 3 9 2 – 1 8 9 7 ) ▁a ▁res urg ent ▁Ne o - Conf u cian ism ▁led ▁by ▁think ers ▁such ▁as ▁Z hu ▁X i ▁( 1 1 3 0 – 1 2 0 0 ) ▁and ▁Wang ▁Yang ming ▁( 1 4 7 2 – 1 5 2 9 ) ▁became ▁the ▁dominant ▁school ▁of ▁thought , ▁and ▁was ▁promoted ▁by ▁the ▁imperial ▁state . ▁Begin ning ▁in ▁the ▁Song ▁dynast y , ▁conf u cian ▁class ics ▁were ▁the ▁basis ▁of ▁the ▁imperial ▁ex ams ▁and ▁became ▁the ▁core ▁philosophy ▁of ▁the ▁scholar ▁official ▁class . ▁Conf u cian ism ▁suffered ▁set back s ▁during ▁the ▁ 2 0 th ▁century , ▁but ▁is ▁recently ▁under going ▁a ▁rev ival , ▁which ▁is ▁term ed ▁New ▁Conf u cian ism . ▁ ▁Trad itionally , ▁East ▁Asian ▁cult ures ▁and ▁countries ▁in ▁the ▁cultural ▁sphere ▁are ▁strongly ▁influenced ▁by ▁Conf u cian ism , ▁including ▁Main land ▁China , ▁Hong ▁Kong , ▁Mac au , ▁Japan , ▁Korea , ▁Taiwan ▁and ▁Vietnam ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁various ▁over se as ▁territ ories ▁settled ▁pre