Zhan Ruoshui was a Chinese philosopher, educator and a Confucian scholar.

Biography

Zhan was born in Zengcheng, Guangdong

Zengcheng

Zengcheng , historically known as Tsengshing , is a County-level city in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.It is known for the production of blue jeans. In June 2011 it was the scene of a riot of migrant workers.-External links:*...

. He was appointed the president of Nanjing Guozijian (南京國子監, the Imperial Nanjing University) in 1524. He was later appointed the Minister of Department of Li (禮部, Li Bu, which mainly administers national ceremony, sacrifice, imperial examination, education, diplomacy, etc.), Minister of Governmental Personnel (吏部), and then Minister of Military Affairs for War (兵部) at Nanjing

Nanjing

' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...

 of Ming Dynasty

Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...

.

As a scholar, Zhan is famous for mind theory. He was also a famous educator. In his life he founded and jointly founded more than 40 Shuyuan (書院, Confucian academies).

Zhan was a lifelong friend of the philosopher, general, and administrator Wang Yangming

Wang Yangming

Wang Yangming was a Ming Chinese idealist Neo-Confucian philosopher, official, educationist, calligraphist and general. After Zhu Xi, he is commonly regarded as the most important Neo-Confucian thinker, with interpretations of Confucianism that denied the rationalist dualism of the orthodox...

. He shared an appreciation of Lu Xiangshan idealism (xinxue), Daoism, and Buddhism

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

with Wang, although their intellectual paths ultimately diverged.