The Neo-Confucians, on the other hand, came to this understanding of the universe by way of a systematic exploration of the implications of a cosmos consisting entirely of li and qi. “When we speak of heaven, earth, and the myriad things together, there is just one li,” wrote Zhu Xi. “When we come to humans, each has his or her own li…. Although each has his own li, each nonetheless emerges from a single li.”
Li
