Much of the technical philosophy of Confucianism was developed by sophisticated thinkers that came well after the time of Confucius, starting in the Song dynasty. This episode is our first devoted to the foremost of these “Neo-Confucians,” Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130-1200 CE). To help us with this introduction, we are joined by special guest Stephen C. Angle, one of the leading scholars of Neo-Confucianism. Continue reading →
Category Archives: Zhu Xi
Revised Book: Ng, Zhu Xi’s Theory of Self-Cultivation of Probing Principle
A revised and much-expanded version of Ng Kai-chiu 吳啟超’s book, 《朱子的窮理工夫論》[Zhu Xi’s Theory of Self-Cultivation of Probing Principle] has been published by National Taiwan University Press. More information in both Chinese and English (the book is in Chinese) is available here.
Episode 8 of “This Is the Way”: The Golden Rule
Across different religious and moral traditions we often find some version of the Golden Rule. In this episode we explore the Golden Rule as formulated in the Analects and explore questions such as how fundamental it is to the Confucian ethical framework, how it is supposed to work in actual practice, and how it connects with issues about self-centeredness. We also examine how it might apply differently to ordinary people and sages, focusing on Analects 15.24 and Analects 6.30. Continue reading →
Episode 3 of “This Is the Way”: Oneness
In the third episode of This Is the Way we explore the topic of oneness with our guest Philip J. Ivanhoe, a distinguished scholar and translator of East Asian philosophy. In part I, Justin gives a quick overview of Neo-Confucian philosophy and its connection to oneness. In part II, we talk with Ivanhoe about his book, Oneness: East Asian Conceptions of Virtue, Happiness, and How We Are All Connected. Some issues that we discuss include the following: the truth value of oneness (neither “strictly true” nor a groundless and pointless hallucination), the benefits of oneness (security, spontaneity, and metaphysical comfort), and the sense in which we are the minds of Heaven, Earth and the myriad things (Wang Yangming was right after all!).
Below you will find a more detailed accounting of topics, some specific passages and books or articles mentioned in the episode, and an opportunity to “weigh in” and share your views about the topic (or about the hosts’ wild claims about oneness or Chinese philosophy).
Your feedback is very welcome! Please leave a comment below, mail the hosts at ChinesePhilosophyPodcast@gmail.com, or follow them on X @ChinesePhilPod.
Lecture: Li, The relationship between Neo-Confucianism and Buddhism
The Glorisun Global Network for Buddhist Studies is pleased to present:
The relationship between Neo-Confucianism and Buddhism in Song Dynasty taking Zhu Xi as an example
By Professor Li Chunying 李春穎, International Confucian Academy at China University of Political Science and Law
Date: Monday, December 6, 2021, 10:00 AM PST
Webpage: https://glorisunglobalnetwork
Registration: https://ubc.zoom.us/meeting/r
Ng on Li 理
NG Kai-chiu has published a new article in the Soochow Journal of Philosophical Studies 東吳哲學學報 (in Chinese) titled “Rethinking Zhu Xi’s Li: ‘Principle of Existence’ or ‘Pattern’?” that considers the interpretation of li 理 as “Pattern” offered my Justin Tiwald and me in Neo-Confucianism: A Philosophical Interpretation. The abstract follows, and the whole paper (and others from the same issue) can be accessed here.
Wu Reviews Makeham, ed., Buddhist Roots of Zhu Xi
Jiang WU has reviewed John Makeham, ed., The Buddhist Roots of Zhu Xi’s Philosophical Thought (Oxford, 2018) in the latest Journal of Chinese Religions; see here. One excerpt:
The current volume under review is thus a welcome step towards reevaluating the Buddhist influence on the formation of Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucian philosophy. Not only will it rekindle interest in philosophical issues among China specialists, it also helps to correct the previous tendency, or even bias, to overemphasize the social, intellectual, and historical aspects. This dominant approach tends to reduce philosophical arguments to a set of ideological dogmas conditioned by their social and cultural contexts, such as the competition for literati patronage. (p. 304)
New Book: Ng and Huang, eds., Dao Companion to Zhu Xi’s Philosophy
The latest in the wonderful Dao Companion series is out, this one containing 40 chapters and more than 1000 pages! Kai-chiu Ng and Yong Huang, eds., Dao Companion to Zhu Xi’s Philosophy (Springer, 2020). For more information, see here.
New Book: Dao Companion to Zhu Xi’s Philosophy
Yong Huang writes to share this news:
Dao Companion to Zhu Xi’s Philosophy, edited by Kai-chiu Ng and Yong Huang, vol. 13 of Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy series, edited by Yong Huang, had just been published by Springer. The volume consists of 40 chapters, contributed by the best Zhu Xi scholars today. In addition to the Introduction chapter, it includes 4 chapters on Zhu Xi as a commentator of Confucian classics, 6 chapters on the relationships between Zhu Xi and his predecessors, his contemporaries, and philosophers after him in the Confucian tradition of China, 16 chapters on the various aspects of Zhu Xi’s philosophy, 6 chapter on the relationships between Zhu Xi and non-Confucian philosophical traditions, and 7 chapters on the contemporary relevance of Zhu Xi’s philosophy. It is the most comprehensive and most updated studies of Zhu Xi in English. The whole volume is over 1000 pages, reasonably priced at $149.
New Book: Adler, trans., Zhu Xi’s Zhouyi benyi
Joseph Adler’s translation of Zhu Xi’s Zhouyi benyi 周易本義 (The “Original Meaning” of the Zhou Changes) has been published by Columbia University Press:
https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-original-meaning-of-the-yijing/9780231191241
