朱熹在從學李侗之後，方才貞定以儒家價值爲歸趨，且自李侗的提點中，迎向生命學問的另一個視野，一個工夫進路的面向。曾經，李侗要朱熹思考，如何存養心體，不爲干擾所羈絆，在義理工夫的層面上，朱熹正視到「主靜」與「主敬」修爲，前者乃是藉由調整心氣，端正心念，以進入深沈寧靜的狀態；後者則是藉由提撕此心、專注一念的方式，讓專注於正念的生命，自然而然地不去觀照妄念。以理學家眼目觀看詩歌、書寫詩歌、評論詩歌的朱熹，其意以爲，人們要有辨識詩歌好壞的眼力，須是心上不鬧，此心虛靜則道理明白，這是朱熹理學眼光的主觀詮解，卻不必然周全地回應了觀看詩歌的眼力高下問題。此外，朱熹亦調動了形象化的詩歌語言，以源頭活水之喻，感性地呈現義理工夫修爲後的清澈生命，讓義理關注與詩歌表述從不同領域，展現生命清明的修爲進境。

After learning from Li Tong, Zhu Xi directed the Confucianism as the orientation in his life. From Li's reminding, Zhu Xi faced another vision, a "methodology of practice" dimension. Once, Li Tong required Zhu Xi to consider how to nourish "mind" and get rid of disturbance. In the aspect of philosophy of principle, Zhu Xi unfolded the practice of "keeping quiescence" and "keeping reverence." The former was to lead life enter quiescence by the way of adjusting breath and correcting mind. The latter was to fix the life on pure thought by the way of reminding the mind and focusing on one thought, and then the wild thoughts would be ignored. Zhu Xi carried the viewpoint of Neo-Confucianism in observing, writing, and even judging poems. In his opinion, before judging the poems fairly, people should keep the mind calm, and then the principle would unfold clearly. We must say that was Zhu Xi's subjective interpretation, but not necessary solving the question thoroughly. In addition, Zhu Xi used the imaginative poem language to describe the pure life with the metaphor of the flowing source. Zhu Xi drew an advanced practical state of life from the Neo-Confucianism and poetry description.