Reviews of books

Historical Archaeology -     

Koh, Khee Heong, A Northern Alternative: Xue Xuan (1389-1464) and the Hedong School

How did a Neo-Confucian scholar who built no academies,who actually discouraged interested students from studying with him,and whose followers did not have a strong sense of group identity become the first scholar enshrined in the Ming dynasty's imperial Confucius Temple? This is the question that Khee Heong Koh seeks to answer in writing this masterful study of the Ming Neo-Confucian master Xue Xuan.After all,admission into that temple's rolls was a rare honor,one carefully controlled by every imperial court.Only four men were enshrined over the entire Ming dynasty,and Xue is interesting not only because he was the first to be enshrined,but also because he was the only one of the four from northern China.Koh provides us with a detailed picture of this heretofore largely forgotten scholar-official and how he came to be thus enshrined.But this is not simply a biographical study;Koh also problematizes the monolithic understanding of Ming China as having been completely captivated by the Wang Yangming School of Neo-Confucianism.