There were repeated reforms in Confucian thought in early modern times, but after the Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644) it gradually ossified into orthodoxy and dogmatism, which was reflected in other areas, in a falling off in music and the arts.
近代的儒家思想，從理學到明代新興之學，一次又一次修正，明代以後逐漸變成僵化的正統教條，反映到其他領域，藝術、音樂也衰退。