Wang Fuzhi, in his Commentary on Zhang Zai’s Zhengmeng, adopts and reinterprets the concept of mind proposed by Zhang Zai. Zhang Zai based his thought on the foundation of qi Theory to reinterpret what Mencius said, “Exhaustion of dedication causes one to learn about nature and weight with a grandiose mindset so that one can realize the objects of the world.”Although both Wang Fuzhi and Zhang Zai consider mind to be central to the union between heaven and mankind in Confucianism, Zhang’s theory of qi departs from the metaphysical to the specific and demonstrates the concept of mental expansion using the objective ways of heaven. Conversely, Wang accentuates humankind as a valuecreating subject, acknowledges the agency of human mind to assess values, and elucidates the practical philosophy of human ways conforming to the ways of heaven for the union between the two.

The commentary of Zhang Zai’s Zheng Meng; mind covers nature and sentiments； xin ji li； unity of the heaven and man； Zhang Hengqu； Wang Fuzhi