There are three representative patterns so far to interpret Zhu Xi and Zhang Zai's Philosophy, namely Feng Youlan's pattern, Mou Zengsan's pattern and Zhang Dainian's pattern. All these patterns are deficient due to inevitable simplification and partiality caused either by putting a Chinese peg into a Western hole or by forcing their views into a consistent and complete framework. In face, Chinese philosophy in the Song and the Ming Dynasty synthesized not only Buddhism and Taoism but also miscellaneous ideological trends in the preQin days, the Han Dynasties and the Wei and the Jin Dynasty. As a result, the conversion of Chinese philosophy from the view of heavenly law to the view of mind as the mainstream theory witnessed a prolonged process before it took a basic shape in the late days of Zhu Xi and a final shape in Wang Yangming's day. Thus, great efforts should be made to reveal the complexity and characteristics of Chinese philosophy in the Song and the Ming Dynasty.

Confucianism in the Song and the Ming Dynasty; realism; selfcomprehended idea; existence; logical unity