「體物而不可遺」是《中庸》論述「鬼神之為德」的重要說法，也是理學家構建鬼神與萬物關聯的基本依據。朱熹將「體」解釋為「做骨子」，將「體物」理解為「物以鬼神為體」，將鬼神界定為「氣之屈伸往來」，進而將「體物而不可遺」確定為「天下萬物莫非陰陽造化之所為，無物可遺」。在這一解釋中，鬼神作為天理落實的「良能功用」，其主體性色彩被最大限度淡化，由此建構起的理學宇宙觀，通過貫穿幽明和物之終始而祛除鬼神的神秘色彩，進而消解其作為佛教因果輪回主體性的意味，同時，因為這種屈伸作用的真實性，物世界的真實性也獲得「天理」的超越保證，以此反對佛教的虛妄世界觀。

In Chapter 16 of The Doctrine of the Mean, Ti Wu (體物) is used for describing the power of spiritual beings, and Chu Hsi interpreted it as “form the substance of all things”. In Chu Hsi’s view, Ghosts and Spirits were positive and negative spiritual forces in nature, the contraction and expansion of them were basically functioning as principles of everything, and nothing could be existent without them. As a result, Ghosts and Spirits were no longer merely mystical things which lay people usually held, and they couldn’t be considered as beings after people died. On the other hand, the contraction and expansion were real function of Qi (氣), which formed the substance of all things, and guaranteed the great ultimate (Heaven, 天) implementing in everything of the nature. Both these aspects were established to resist the doctrines of Buddhism.