Philosophy
1130 to 1200, Youxi, Fujian, China
Principle and vital force, the investigation of things, and the Four Books - the Neo-Confucian synthesis that gave East Asia its mind for six centuries.
Start learning Zhu →Zhu Xi’s metaphysics: every existing thing is a coming-together of li (principle, the pattern a thing ought to follow) and qi (vital force, the stuff that carries it), and the Supreme Ultimate (taiji) is the totality of…
Zhu Xi’s program of learning: gewu zhizhi , the investigation of things and the extension of knowledge - exhaustively studying the principle in affairs, books, and conduct until, after long effort, the mind breaks throu…
Zhu Xi’s moral psychology: our original nature is principle and therefore wholly good, while our physical endowment - nature lodged in a particular vital force - is where imperfection creeps in; and the mind is what uni…
Zhu Xi’s central discipline of self-cultivation: jing , reverent attention or composed seriousness - holding the mind collected, awake, and undivided in both stillness and activity - which he paired with the investigati…
Zhu Xi’s reshaping of the Confucian canon: he elevated four texts - the Great Learning , Analects , Mencius , and Doctrine of the Mean - into a single graded curriculum with his own commentaries, which became the standa…
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