Both the Analects and Mencius were the fine details of how Neo-Confucianism works, and were not as prevalent in society as the previous two. Mencius suggests that all humans were born good, but not all humans were born with the instinct to help others in need and they must learn to nurture that instinct. The fourth and final book, Mencius, is a collection of conversations Mencius (another philosopher) had with Confucius. The Analects also emphasize devotion to learning. The Analects were Confucius’ teachings and discussions with his students, and it promoted the ideas of filial piety, virtue, and ritual. Doctrine of the Mean was a guide for how people should behave in society, and many people followed it in the Song Dynasty. It also acknowledged that one can not possibly act properly and be right all of the time, so one should always try to develop their morals (sense of right or wrong). It explained that acting properly and being “right and natural” is important. Doctrine of the Mean was the second one, and it focused on following “the Way” or balance. Great Learning described the structure of a Neo-Confucian society, and since it was the most basic of the books, it was enacted in society the most. It was meant by Zhu Xi to be an “introduction” into the world of Neo-Confucianism. Great Learning was the first one, and it focused on the basic ideas of Chinese philosophy and political thinking. Each of The Four Books focused on a different topic. After seeing the scholar, Zhu Xi decided to write these four books for the rest of his life, dying just three days after his final commentary was written. Zhu Xi refused to see a Confucian scholar like his father asked him to until he was 30 and could think of new ideas on his own. The Four Books were a way to detail how a ruler should live and rule in a Neo-Confucian society. The books were modified versions of the Confucian classics, with commentary, ideas from Buddhism, ideas from Daoism, and even ideas from other philosophers. “the Four Books” were written by Zhu Xi to have a “better” set of texts to study for the civil service exams. Instead of using these uncut Confucian classics, a new, cut-down set of texts were introduced: the Four Books. As the Northern Song turned into the Southern Song, the examination system changed. The main point of these examinations was to remove the military-based leaders from government and to bring in the intellectuals.
As these positions were very prestigious, the tests were difficult and one would need to study those texts for most if not all of their life. The examinations themselves were made up of Confucian classics, such as the Analects. The idea of a civil service examination system had been around for a long time, but only in the Song Dynasty was it really enforced as the main way to enter a powerful position. The civil service examination system was the main way to acquire political power and become a scholar-official. The biggest uses and ideas for Neo-Confucianism in the Song Dynasty were the civil service examination system (the way new scholar-officials were chosen), the Four Books by Zhou Xi (a major philosopher in the Southern Song Dynasty), and the ideas of Li and Qi. Therefore, many themes from the philosophy, such as filial piety, were used commonly throughout the dynasty. If one wanted a high ranking job, studying Confucian texts was very important. Neo-Confucianism included parts of Daoism and Buddhism as well as traditional Confucian ideas. Neo-Confucianism, however, developed after the Tang during the Song Dynasty (960-1279) in ancient China, and its uses blended into major parts of society. During the Tang dynasty, Confucianism was not very popular in China.