Until then, the sky was thought of as having a character, rewarding and punishing people with will, but from Song onward, the sky was considered a natural being without will, and there simply was a law in the principle between sky and humans.
それまでの天は人格的であり意志を持って人に賞罰を下すとされたが、宋代以降、天は意志をもたない自然的なものであり、天と人とを貫く法則にただ理があるとされた。