黃宗羲的理氣論由乃師劉宗周的「內在一元傾向」發展出來，其將劉宗周以心體收歸理氣，變成了以「氣」為首出、氣分形上形下的一元論思想，黃宗羲通過「氣」的概念，把宋明傳統的
心性之學與其畢生關懷的經世致用之學統合了起來。黃宗羲的經世學以傳統的理學心性為體，而以注重客觀知識的經史之學為用，黃宗羲以其獨特的理氣論對經世學給出了一個形上的說明。但在解釋如何由具體的經史之學達到心性之學以及二者之關係等問題上，黃宗羲的理氣是無法給出一個周延的詮釋，而必須落實到心性工夫的層面才能給予說明，這同時也表明黃宗羲由劉宗周「內在一元傾向」發展為形上形下同質而異層的「氣一元論」在理論上是有困難的。

Huang Zongxi’s theory of li-qi comes from Liu Zongzhou’s
thought on immanent monism tendency. Huang Zongxi emphasizes qi as
the first order concept and qi itself has the dimensions of transcendency
and reality, while Liu Zongzhou places li and qi under mind-reason
theory. With the concept qi, Huang Zongxi combines traditional
mind-reason thought with his ultimate concern on administration and
practical usage. Huang Zongxi’s distinctive theory of li-qi gives his
administrative concern a transcendent explanation, which interprets the
relationship of self-cultivation in Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism and
objective knowledge as that of substance and function. However, in
Huang Zongxi’s system, only li-qi theory without xin-xing cannot
coherently interpret that relationship, which reveals theoretical
difficulties in the development from Liu Zongzhou’s immanent monism
tendency to Huang Zongxi’s qi-monism theory.