Scholars of Zhejiang established themselves as a national phenomenon after the Southern Song (1127-1279) put its roots down in Hangzhou, present-day capital city of Zhejiang Province. In a sense, these scholars were not conventional ones. They advocated the pursuit of successful solutions to practical needs at national level as well as at grassroots level. Zhu Xi, a famed scholar of the Southern Song, contemptuously dismissed the scholars of Zhejiang for being bogged down in such ugly quest. In following centuries, eminent scholars continued to emerge in Zhejiang and they are known as regional schools such as Western Zhejiang School, Eastern Zhejiang School, Jinhua School, Yongjia School, etc.

Huang Zongxi (1610-1695) was the biggest scholar of the early Qing in Zhejiang. He and his followers blazed a new trail in history studies. These scholars are called historians of Eastern Zhejiang. Huang gave lectures at regional academies where younger scholars emerged. Unlike scholars in the previous dynasties and Huang’s contemporaries who focused on Confucian classics, scholars of eastern Zhejiang concentrated on history, carrying on a tradition that started in the Song and flourished in the Ming in the hands of Wang Yangming. Huang’s focus on history was just like his predecessors in Zhejiang: a quest of practical solutions to practical needs, of practical answers to practical questions in governance.  

Huang and his fellow scholars of the early Qing scrutinized history for practical solutions and understanding of problems in everyday life. This was an approach made possible by their deeper understanding of Confucian classics. Their understanding of classics can be attributed to their studies of classics, history, literature, and science.

The focus on history reflects Huang’s belief that knowledge must be practical and scholars must learn how to solve problems in national and regional governance. It is not difficult to understand why history played a key role in the study of these scholars. Unlike  which generated academic interests in the 1990s, Huang’s  was regarded as a masterpiece in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It is a systematic survey of all of the important schools of thought that arose in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The 62-volume encyclopedic book names 210 scholars and explores their interconnection and geographic distribution, and critically evaluates the life and teachings of the important scholars from each school. It is considered as the first great history of Chinese philosophy.

This work reflects Huang’s approach to history study: he preferred dynasties close in time to him. He didn’t look far back to dynasties such as the Tang (618-907) or the Han (206BC-220AD) that existed a long time ago. No wonder he first examined scholars of the Ming Dynasty. He himself was born and brought up in the Ming. He intended to write a similar review of the scholars of the Song Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), but he passed away before being able to finish it. 

Eastern Zhejiang produced generations of scholars. Huang Zongxi and other scholars in the early Qing years did not emerge by chance. Pursuit of education in eastern Zhejiang was a way of life and the tradition of historical studies had been around for a long time. Before the Ming, scholars of Yuyao had annotated classics and histories. It would be natural that Huang followed his predecessors’ footsteps. Another reason why these scholars turned their attention to history was that the literary inquisition of the Qing gagged scholars from speaking out. Huang Zongxi, a scholar who grew up in the Ming and fought the Qing in the early years of the dynasty, gave up the fight and retired to a life of scholarly pursuit to avoid persecution. It was the only reasonable choice available to him. His two younger brothers and a friend disliked his choice and broke relations with him.