The term "Ru" (儒) has its origin in the pedagogues of the Western Zhou who were known as "Ru masters" (師儒). In early Ruism, the term "master" could refer either to "masters" qua transmitters of the Way (as for Mencius) or to "masters" qua agents of governance (as for Xunzi). The Han Ruists inherited this Xunzian tradition of "masters" qua agents of governance, and their "masterly method" (師法) was dependent upon the system of court-official academia, and was intended to provide scholarly justification and canonical precedents on the basis of the principles and legal systems of the Ruist canon, wherewith to undergird the ritual and legal institutions of the Han court. During the Tang-Song transformations, however, Ruists redefined their historical position within the traditional politico-didactic landscape, and via a revival of the spirit of the Mencian "masterly way" (師道), stood up for a sense of identity-consciousness amongst the scholar-official class. Taking themselves to be proponents of this masterly Way, the Song Ruists were thereby inspired to a spirit of bold undertaking, which further strengthened their position as a collective within the political and cultural realms. The formation of this spirit of the masterly Way embodies a different form of collaboration between Ruism and imperial politics.