 The interpenetration of emptiness and phenomena is an affirmation of the changing world in which we live. Thus, it is false to see Chinese Buddhism as life-negating or as denying the diversity of the world. Nonetheless, the metaphysics of emptiness is directed toward overcoming attachments. Diversity remains, but there are no individuals that could be held onto. The Confucian response, which became a dominant force in the Song dynasty (960–1279), was driven primarily by an aversion to these consequences. This reaction can be seen in three concrete positions—the acceptance of suffering and death as unavoidable, the differentiation of roles and norms within society, and the embrace of negative affects such as sorrow at the death of a parent or anxious concern for a child in danger. This Confucian movement is known in Chinese as the “Learning of the Way” (Daoxue 道學) and in English as “Neo-Confucianism.”