Zhang Zai · Philosophy
Zhang Zai’s <em>Western Inscription</em> (Ximing) - a few dozen lines chalked on a study wall that became the ethical charter of Neo-Confucianism: because all things are woven from one cosmic stuff, Heaven and Earth are our parents, every person is a brother or sister, and every creature a companion.
You learned that Zhang Zai’s Western Inscription turns his qi-monism into an ethic: the whole universe is one body, Heaven and Earth are our parents, all people our brothers and sisters, all things our companions - yet the love it asks for is graded , flowing out from the family, not the flat equal love of the M…
Leads to Marcus Aurelius.
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