kaozheng

Kaozheng (), alternatively called kaoju xue () was a Chinese school of thought emphasizing philology that was active during the Qing dynasty (1644–1912) from to 1850. It was most prominent during the reigns of the Qianlong Emperor and Jiaqing Emperor; because of this, it is often also referred to as the Qian–Jia school (). Their approach corresponds to that of modern textual criticism, and was also associated with empiricism as regards scientific topics.

== History and controversies == Nearly all of the representatives of the kaozheng movement were Ming loyalists, refusing to accept offers of government positions from the Qing dynasty. The Kaozheng school began in the late Ming, criticizing the subjectivism of Yangmingism. After the fall of the Ming, kaozheng scholars blamed this subjectivism for the collapse of the state and thus called for practical study of objective realities to replace subjectivism, directly leading to critical studies of the Confucian source texts for their original meanings. Some of the most important first generation of Qing thinkers were Ming loyalists, at least in their hearts, including Gu Yanwu, Huang Zongxi, and Fang Yizhi. Partly in reaction to the presumed laxity and excess of the late Ming, they turned to kaozheng, or evidential learning, which emphasized careful textual study and critical thinking. The kaozheng movement has been compared to the European phenomena of Historism, Enlightenment, or Biblical criticism, seeking reform and deconstruction of royal-centric and optimistic narratives by "returning to the sources" through source criticism. The kaozheng movement was also closely linked to the Han learning movement which sought to reject Neo-Confucianism for the Han dynasty commentarial tradition.