Wang Yangming held that knowing and acting are not two: to know filial piety truly is already to be filial, as to know a bad smell is already to dislike it. Knowledge that does not issue in action has not yet been fully known. The teaching challenged the Zhu Xi orthodoxy.
Unity of knowing and acting
Wang Yangming’s teaching that true knowledge is already action, and knowledge not acted on is not yet known.
Also: zhixing heyi