楊時「氣柔」、謝良佐「氣剛」，所傳道南與湖湘兩系各走一端，於儒學各自經營，成為南宋最重要之學術流派，朱熹從道南到湖湘，從「靜」入「敬」，又以「敬」攝「靜」，由本體以見工夫，又由工夫以見本體，完成工夫論的思考，於儒學心性、本體，終於有清楚的觀察。從佛入儒是朱熹標示儒學事業的開始，「中和」新說確立二程學術之究竟，無疑是理學事業的完成，往復之間，朱熹融鑄超越，用心至微，不僅匯整兩系心法，也逐步完成四書體系的建構，《四書章句集注》保留朱熹諸多思考，檢覈其中，得見朱熹承繼與發展方向，從義理講論而及經義的思考，遂有進一步檢證的依據。

Yang Shi stood for feminineness, which became one of the Confucian
systems, named Daonan, while Xie Liang-Zuo stood for virility, which
became another of the Confucian systems, named Huxiang. These two
systems were two of the most important academic schools of Confucianism
in South Song Dynasty. Zhu Xi pursued his study from Daonan to Huxiang.
In fact, he first understood esteem through tranquility and then subdued
tranquility by esteem. In other words, he made the substance and skills
(gongfu) reveal each other and accomplished the theory of skill through
observing mind and substance in Confucianism. The beginning of Zhu’s
Confucian study is from Buddhism to Confucianism. The hybrid of these
two isms established the foundation of Cheng Yi and Cheng Hao’s
academics, which was the fulfillment of Philosophy of Principle (lixue). Zhu
not only assembled and marshaled the way of mind (xinfa) in these two
systems attentively but also constructed the system of the Four Books step
by step. A lot of Zhu’s thoughts were kept in the Exegesis of the Collections
of Texts from the Four Books (Sishu zhangju jizhu). As a result, we can
discover the origin of Zhu’s study and the orientation of his expansion
through looking into the discourse of ordinance and reflection upon the
principles in the Exegesis of the Collections of Texts from the Four Books.