清初，理學的影響力仍未完全衰替。康熙帝為重整綱紀，甚至提倡程朱理學，重開日講，並且恢復經筵大典；此外，以朱子思想為官方哲學的考試政策，清代也一直沿襲未變。只不過清近之推尊程朱，有其藉思想統一以遂箝制思想之政治目的。因此清廷之推尊程朱，著重在道德約束，主於藉倫常之教以鞏固封建序；至於理學中心思辨色彩，則是被摒棄在外的。但是這樣「實用化」與道德教條僵化的狹隘走向，使得理學的學術生命被扼殺，而步上理論貧乏的難以賡續發展之路。另一方面則王學也在清廷的獨尊程朱之下，發展空間遭受嚴重阻滯；復在「空談誤國」的各方集矢下，修正其學風為轉趨經世徵實，如孫奇逢、黃宗羲、李顒等。再者，喋喋不休的朱、王之爭，在清初也各自轉向尋求經典的支持，如此一來，更加直接地推動了有清一代的經典考證之學。至此，理學益發退居伏流，而方興未艾的考據學，則取代其主流地位且蔚為風潮了。

　　　　　Li Studies were still in a strong position in the early decades of the Cing Dynasty. In order to reestablish social and political order, Emporor Kang Xi (康熙) even promoted Cheng and Zhu's Studies (程朱理學). He ordered daily lectures be given and Forums of classical studies be reconvened. In addition, the Ching Dynasty still employed Zhu Xi's thought as the official philosophy in its examination system to elect state bureaucrats. It is clear that the Court had political purposes in emphasizing Cheng and Zhu. They wanted to unify thought in order to contain it. By focusing on moral constraint they strengthened feudal order through state ethical apparatus. As for the dialectical elements in Cheng-zhu Studies, the Ching Dynasty simply discarded it. This development of practical and narrow dogmatism barricades the scholarly prospects of Cheng-zhu Studies, making the poverty of theory a route unfit for thought growth. On the other hand, the space of development for Wang Studies (王陽明學) was seriously hampered by courtly privileging of Cheng-Zhu Studies. Worse still, attacked by the phrase "Empty discourses destroy state," scholars such as Suen Chi-feng (孫奇逢), Huang Zong-xi (黃宗羲), and Li Yong (李顒) started to redirect their thought, making it more worldly oriented and adapted to reality. Additionally, the controversies over Zhu and Wang also ended up in seeking support from the Classics, furthermore contributing to the focus of textual criticism during the next two centuries. This is how Cheng-zhu Studies declined to the state of a hidden river and how textual criticism completely swapped Cheng-zhu Studies and became the main trend of Ching scholarship.