Abstract： In discussions on how Mou Zongsan interprets Zhu Xi's theory of intrinsic nature (xing性) , most scholars tend to deal with this issue based on the position of Mou himself, and only very few of them make further judgments and analyses.Others note that some of Mou's criticisms of Zhu Xi are not sufficiently accurate, but their arguments are generally based on discussions concerning“investigating things in order to attain knowledge” (gewu zhizhi格物致知) .Although this is an important clue to understand Mou's comments on Zhu Xi's theories, the paper claims that it is not sufficiently comprehensive.The paper holds that on the issue of how Mou comprehends Zhu Xi's view of intrinsic nature (xing 性) , most researchers just take the matter on its own merits, and have not paid due attention to whether or not Mou takes Zhu Xi's theories on heavenly patterns (li理) and psycho-material force (qi气) into full consideration.There are reasonable grounds for Mou's claim that Zhu Xi interprets intrinsic nature (xing性) as merely entities without activities, especially from the perspective of Zhu Xi's theoretical discussion of the relationship between xing性 and qi气.The paper argues that if we study Zhu Xi's theory more comprehensively, we can reasonably conclude that Mou's viewpoint on the relationship between heart-mind (xin 心) and qi (气) was not subtle enough to adequately comprehend Zhu Xi's theory of the relation between heart-mind (xin 心) and nature (xing 性) .
