societal order

  • 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…

  • The Analects – Chapter 12 (1.12). Ritual and harmony

    Master You said, “In the usages of ritual it is harmony that is prized. In the ways prescribed by the ancient kings, this is the excellent quality, and in things small and great people follow them. But there are times when it does not work: if harmony is blindly pursued without regulation by the…