Xuanxue

Xuanxue

 or hsüan-hsüeh
(Chinese; “Dark Learning”)

Intellectual movement in China in the 3rd–4th century that arose during a period of disenchantment with Confucianism. Founded by Wang Bi (226–249), the movement drastically reinterpreted Confucian sources and incorporated aspects of Daoism. Wang and his followers tried to determine whether the nature of ultimate reality was being or nothingness and sought to discover if the principle underlying a thing was universal or particular. The movement played an important role in the development of Chinese Buddhism.