Explore the vast range of titles available.

Traditional Chinese ancestor worship implicitly raises a fundamental question: How are ancestors possible? This question was formally articulated in the Zhu Xi’ philosophy. Qi holds ontological status: the “birth” of things arises from the aggregation of qi, while their “death” means the dispersion of qi—a clearly naturalistic proposition. Yet, paradoxically, Zhu Xi also asserts that during sacrificial rituals, deceased ancestors can exist in some form, reflecting a realist stance toward religious objects. These two propositions appear contradictory. To resolve this contradiction, He implicitly proposes “constructive realism”, suggesting that whether ancestors “exist” can only be meaningfully considered when the ritual participant possesses a state of chengjing gange.

This unique book reveals the existence of an advanced civilization where none was known before, presenting an entirely new perspective on the culture and history of Tibet.In his groundbreaking study of an epic period in Tibet few people even knew existed, John Vincent Bellezza details the discovery of an ancient people on the most desolate.

This paper presents a comparative study of the spatial characteristics of academies in China and Korea, focusing on BaiLuDong Academy in China and Tosan Academy in Korea. It examines the cultural philosophies and practical differences in the spatial expression of Confucianism between the two countries. BaiLuDong Academy embodies the Confucian ideals of simplicity and solemnity through its modest architectural style and rigorous spatial organization. The integration of mountain–water siting with enclosed courtyard arrangements reflects the Confucian scholar’s pursuit of self-cultivation and social order. In contrast, Tosan Academy, while grounded in Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucian teachings, incorporates local architectural traditions to form a more open and flexible spatial configuration. Its emphasis on harmony with the natural environment represents a localized reinterpretation of Confucian values. As a spatial embodiment of ideology, the academy serves as a medium through which Confucian values are materialized in architectural form. The spatial characteristics of Chinese and Korean academies reveal the adaptability and evolution of Confucian thought across different cultural contexts.

The aim of the present analysis is to investigate the moral assumptions of the Neo-Confucian culture of the Song as reflected in Zhu Xi’s work. The implicit presence of the transmoral element in Zhu Xi’s moral thought is highlighted, and its functioning is interpreted through the notions of moral imperative, moral demand, moral motivation, and moral conscience.

This essay examines the concept of zhijue in Zhu Xi through hun and po and argues that it is a complex psychophysical process that involves evaluative appreciations and practical realizations of proper conducts that are contextually appropriate to ever-changing circumstances and efficacious in orchestrating productive relations. The author contends that zhijue is not a passive perception of a predetermined reality, but a participatory co-determination of the world through cultivated skills of appreciation and realization.

Zhu Xi argues that “thoughts cannot render themselves sincere on their own,” for thoughts tend to deceive themselves; thus, only the objective inquiry of knowledge can ensure a proper beginning to attain genuine sincerity. Wang Yangming's earlier doctrine of the unity of knowing and doing and his later doctrine of extending liangzhi 良知 (original knowledge of the good) could be understood as a response to Zhu Xi's puzzle of self-deception.

This essay argues that the popular attribution of the claim \"All the people on the street are sages\" to Wang Yangming (1472–1528) is mistaken, and the misattribution comes from a misreading of the utterance \"[I] saw [that] all the people on the street are sages,\" made actually by his two students in passage 313 of the Chuanxilu as a factual claim rather than an expression of attitude.

Recognized as one of the greatest philosophers in classical China, Chu Hsi (1130-1200) is known in the West primarily through translations of one of his many works, the Chin-ssu Lu. In this book, Julia Ching offers the first book-length examination of Chu Hsi’s religious thought, based on extensive reading of both primary and secondary sources. Ching begins by providing an introduction to Chu’s twelfth-century intellectual context. She then examines Chu’s natural philosophy, looking in particular at the ideas of the Great Ultimate and at spirits and deities and the rituals that honor them. Next, Ching considers Chu’s interpretation of human nature and the emotions, highlighting the mystical thrust of the theoretical and practical teachings of spiritual cultivation and meditation. She discusses Chu’s philosophical disputes with his contemporariesin particular Lu Chiu-yuanand examines his relationship to Buddhism and Taoism. In the final chapters, Ching looks at critiques of Chu during his lifetime and after and evaluates the relevance of his thinking in terms of contemporary needs and problems. This clearly written and highly accessible study also offers translations of some of Chu’s most important philosophical poems, filling a major gap in the fields of both Chinese philosophy and religion.

The scholarly consensus on Zhu Xi is that he is brilliant but often unclear, and perhaps even inconsistent, especially with regard to the central concept of li (principle). Any interpretation of his system requires a certain amount of creative reconstruction. The purpose of this essay is to examine the attempts elucidate Zhu Xi's doctrine of li over the course of the Four-Seven Debate. It be seen that the Korean philosophers T'oegye and Yulgok provide competing but complementary explanations of a pivotal issue in Zhu's moral metaphysics, namely how the li can serve as a standard for moral goodness. However, they both stand in a certain amount of tension, not only with each other but with Zhu himself. It is hoped to show that by juxtaposing the two reconstructions the philosophical problem that arises for Zhu, and for anyone attempting a similar project, can be clarified.