This book studies the Yang-ming School, the most important intellectual phenomenon during the Ming, socio-historically and intellectually. In addition to the studies of the lives and thoughts of individual Confucian scholars, the book also pays great attention to other social, political, and cultural factors that interacted with this intellectual movement. The book contains two parts, nine chapters. The first part deals with the social history of the Yang-ming School, including the construction of the School, the organization and activities of scholars’ associations (jianghui), and the development of local jianghui in Jian and Ninguo Prefectures, and the middle Zejiang area. The second part discusses some topics, which demonstrate the close interactions between intellectual ideas and scholars’ social practice. The topics discussed in the book include the relationship between scholars’ emphasis on friendship and their jianghui activities, between their interpretations of the symbol Yan Zi and the legitimizing their own School, and the dialogued and competitive relationship between Jiangnan and Jiangxi Yangming learning.