What is Neo-Confucianism? The relationship between neo-Confucianism and traditional Confucianism? What are the characteristics of Neo-Confucianism?

Neo-Confucianism in the Song Dynasty originated from the philosophical trend of thought in the Northern Song Dynasty, which is characterized by expounding Confucian classics, that is, Neo-Confucianism or the tide of Song learning. In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, Fan Zhongyan, Ouyang Xiu, Hu Yuan, Sun Bin and others took the initiative; in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhou Dunyi, Shao Yong, Zhang Zai, Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi and others developed, and Zhu et al. Features They take Confucius and Mencius as the Sect, and take Zhouyi, Analects of Confucius, Mencius, Daxue and The Doctrine of the Mean as the main basis, criticizing the ethical theories of Buddhism and Taoism since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, denying benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom, and critically absorbing the thoughts of Buddhism and Taoism. They care about social reality, advocate the so-called "moral life" theory, and discuss the universe and human life from the perspective of ontology. Although the "New Confucianism" has schools such as Lian, Luo, Guan and Min, they all discuss the relationship between subject and object, strengths, mind and nature, body and use, and cultivation methods. "Neo-Confucianism" did not simply return to pre-Qin Confucianism, but improved the theoretical thinking level at that time.