Buddhism and Taoism seemed less useful than Confucianism in resolving worldly problems. Confucianism thus entered a period of creative transformation in order to meet external challenges to the state. Zhu Xi's influence proved greater than that of other philosophers because of his work integrating various schools of thought, doing textual research, and annotating the classics.
但佛、道對現世問題的解決不如儒學有力，北宋以來的理學家，開始將儒家文化進行創造性的轉化，以應付外來挑戰。