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Great Learning Chapter 3. Sincerity Within, Virtue Without: Authenticity and vigilance in solitude
What is meant by “making one’s intentions sincere” is not deceiving oneself. It is like hating a foul odor or loving a beautiful color – this is what is called self-satisfaction (or inner authenticity). Therefore, the gentleman must be especially vigilant when alone.
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Great Learning Chapter 1. The Path of Moral Cultivation
“The Way of the Great Learning lies in illuminating one’s inherent luminous virtue, in renewing the people, and in attaining the highest excellence.”
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The Great Learning: The Foundation of Confucian Self-Cultivation
As one of the four core classics of Confucianism, The Great Learning (Daxue) holds a sacred place in Chinese intellectual and cultural history. Originally a chapter in the Book of Rites, an ancient collection of ritual and ethical texts, it was later compiled and annotated by the Song Dynasty scholar Zhu Xi, who elevated…
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Cai Gen Tan: Ancient Chinese wisdom for living a balanced life
Amidst the great classics of Chinese philosophy and literature, Cai Gen Tan (Vegetable Root Talks, Roots of Wisdom or Tending the Roots of Wisdom) occupies a unique place – it is not an epic novel, a dense philosophical treatise, or a religious scripture, but a collection of pithy, practical maxims for navigating life.
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Tao Te Ching: The Ancient Chinese Classic of Wisdom and Harmony
Among the world’s most influential philosophical texts, the Tao Te Ching (Dao De Jing) stands out as a masterpiece of brevity and profound insight. Attributed to Laozi (Lao Tzu), a mysterious sage believed to have lived in the 6th century BCE during China’s Spring and Autumn Period, this small book of just 81 chapters…