Wang Shouren (1472-1528) received strict Confucianism in his childhood and took part in the imperial examination at the provincial level at age 20, which helped him become more knowledgeable. He became a presented scholar in 1499, the 12th year of the Hongzhi Period of the Ming Dynasty. He worked as a secretary in the Ministry of Justice and then in the Ministry of War. In the fourth year of Zhengde Period of Ming Dynasty, he put forward the idea of integrating one’s knowledge and actions while teaching at Guiyang Academy. His academic reputation spread gradually.  

In the 16th year of the Zhengde Period (1521AD), he retired on the ground that he needed to take care of his old father and he was in a poor health. He set up a school called Jishan Academy and recruited over 300 students from all over Shaoxing. Even Nan Daji, the prefect of Shaoxing prefecture, came to study under him. For five years, he had more students. He set up another school called Yangming Academy at a place east of the Guangxiang Bridge in the western Shaoxing City. He developed a special kind of philosophical thoughts about the mind. His new philosophy was much simpler than the philosophies put forward by Cheng and Zhu. For this reason, his philosophy was quite popular and drew a big following. In the 6th year (1527AD) of the Jiajing Period of the Ming Dynasty, he was appointed to his previous post again when people rebelled in Guangxi province. Wang Shouren was later appointed to command the military affairs in Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangxi and Huguang. In 1528, he summoned Lu Su and Wang Shou to surrender and then sent them to suppress the rebels of the Yao and the Zhuang ethnic groups. In the winter of 1528, Wang fell ill seriously. He sent a resignation to the court but went home without waiting for a reply. He died in Annan on his way home at age 57. He was buried in Hongxi, Huajie in southwestern Shanyin. After Wang’s death, an official in Guangxi reported to the central government that Wang had deserted his post. Enraged by Wang’s unauthorized departure, the emperor told the officials to discuss a method to punish Wang. The emperor issued a decree that Wang’s children be deprived of the official title they were to inherit and no pension or consolation money be sent to his family. In the early period of the Longqing Period (1567-1572), ministers at the court spoke highly of Wang’s achievements and Wang was rehabilitated and given a posthumous title. Wang Shouren’s tomb was refurbished with a fund of 3 million Japanese yen provided by Japanese scholars of Wang’s thoughts. Wang’s tomb is a cultural relic under the protection of Zhejiang Provincial Government.