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 →
Category Archives: Zhu Xi
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!).
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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
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
New Book: Zhu Xi
Zhu Xi: Selected Writings has been published. This is the first volume in the new translation series, Oxford Chinese Thought.
This is the first book-length translation to give a comprehensive look at Zhu Xi’s thought and his place in history, literature, philosophy, and religion. It includes Zhu’s writings or lessons on a wide variety of topics, including his ethics, metaphysics, political thought, views on ghosts and spirits, objections to Daoism and Buddhism, selected commentaries, and his thoughts on literature, poetry, and current social conditions. The volume is edited by Philip J. Ivanhoe with contributions from experts in various areas and aspects of Zhu Xi’s writings.
The book has been released directly into paperback and there is a companion website that includes the Chinese text for all translated materials, both of which we hope will appeal to instructors looking to adopt the volume for their courses. The paperback edition is quite affordable, and the easy reference to the Chinese text gives language instructors a way to teach Song dynasty Chinese as applied to a variety of topics and genres.
The table of contents is below the fold.
Song Reviews Liu, Neo-Confucianism
Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews
2019.03.33 View this Review Online View Other NDPR Reviews
JeeLoo Liu, Neo-Confucianism: Metaphysics, Mind, and Morality, Wiley-Blackwell, 2018, 316pp., $34.95 (pbk), ISBN 9781118619414.
Reviewed by Bin Song, Washington College
This book is clearly one of the greatest accomplishments among English Neo-Confucian philosophical studies in recent decades. JeeLoo Liu uses clear language and rigorous philosophical reasoning to analyze eight pivotal Neo-Confucian figures regarding three major areas: metaphysics, moral theory and moral practice. The book can be aptly used as both an introduction to Neo-Confucianism for beginners and a top reference for researchers, which is itself a rare achievement.