The Neo-Confucian philosophy of Chu Hsi (Japanese: Shushi, 1130—1200) as imported to Japan. It was embraced by the samurai class and became state orthodoxy during the Tokugawa period. Together with the philosophy of Wang Yang-ming (Japanese: Oyomei) it has exercised considerable influence in many areas of society including popular and official religion and ethics from the Tokugawa period onwards. Shushi thought focuses on the duties of the ideal ruler to guide his people to act in accordance with their inherently virtuous mind. Proper conduct and self-cultivation which may take the form of Zen-type meditation or the intellectual 'investigation of things' are believed to discipline the heart and mind.
A Popular Dictionary of Shinto. Brian Bocking.