Da Xue

Dà Xué (大學 or 大学) (meaning: the Great Learning), is the first of the Four books which were selected by Zhu Xi during the Song Dynasty as a foundational introduction to Confucianism. It was originally one chapter in Classic of Rites.

The book consists of a short main text, attributed to Confucius and nine commentaries chapters by Zeng Zi, one of Confucius' disciples. Its importance is illustrated by Zeng Zi's foreword that this is the gateway of learning.

Some of the terms within the text form an important part of both classical and modern Chinese political discourse. For example, the concept of world peace has been the stated goal of Chinese statecraft from the Zhou dynasty to the Kuomintang to the Communist Party of China. Another term used in the text qin-min which Legge translates as renovating the people is the name of the People First Party, one of the minor parties in Taiwan.

The Text of the Da Xue

The Da Xue, originally a chapter of the Classic of Rites (Li Ji), was relatively unrecognized as a discrete unit until the Neo-Confucian period, when Sima Kuang (1019-1086 C.E.) "wrote a commentary on it, treating it as a separate work for the first time." After that point, it began to attract ever increasing scholarly attention, until its formal canonization by Zhu Xi (as discussed below).

There is little scholarly consensus on its authorship, with some arguing for Confucius, Zengzi (a disciple of Confucius who lived from 505-432 B.C.E.), an unnamed, syncretic redactor from the late Warring States/early Han period (ca. 200 B.C.E.), or for an agnostic position (that the original writer and date of composition are relatively unknowable).

Given the text's relatively short length, its potent argumentation and its significance for understanding Confucianism, much of it is reproduced below:

What the Great Learning teaches, is — to illustrate illustrious virtue; to renovate the people; and to rest in the highest excellence. (...)

大學之道在明明德，在親民，在止於至善 (...)

Things have their root and their branches. Affairs have their end and their beginning. To know what :is first and what is last will lead near to what is taught in the Great Learning.

任何物体都有根本和末节，任何事情也都有终结和开始。知道什么该先，什么该后，就接近于最合宜的程序和目标了。

 

The ancients who wished to illustrate illustrious virtue throughout the

kingdom, first ordered well their own States.

古之欲明明德於天下者，先治其國

Wishing to order well their States, they first regulated their families.

欲治其國者，先齊其家

Wishing to regulate their families, they first cultivated their persons.

欲齊其家者，先修齊身

Wishing to cultivate their persons, they first rectified their hearts.

欲修齊身者，先正其心

Wishing to rectify their hearts, they first sought to be sincere in their thoughts.

欲正其心者，先誠其意

Wishing to be sincere in their thoughts, they first extended to the utmost their knowledge.

欲誠其意者，先致其知

Such extension of knowledge lay in the investigation of things.

致知在格物

 

Things being investigated, knowledge became complete.

物格而後知至

Their knowledge being complete, their thoughts were sincere.

知至而後意誠

Their thoughts being sincere, their hearts were then rectified.

意誠而後心正

Their hearts being rectified, their persons were cultivated.

心正而後身修

Their persons being cultivated, their families were regulated.

身修而後家齊

Their families being regulated, their States were rightly governed.

家齊而後國治

Their States being rightly governed, the whole kingdom was made tranquil and happy.

國治而後天下平

 

From the Son of Heaven down to the mass of the people, all must

consider the cultivation of the person the root of everything besides.

自天子以至於庶人，壹是皆以修身為本，

It cannot be, when the root is neglected, that what should spring from it will be well ordered.

其根本紊乱然而末节想治好，是不可能的，

It never has been the case that what was of great importance has been slightly cared for, and, at :the same time, that what was of slight importance has been greatly cared for.

应该重视的反而轻视，应该轻视的反而重视，是从来没有的事

Philosophy of the Da Xue

As can be seen, the Da Xue represents a progressive and programmatic approach to life and learning, with a stress on the interrelationship between the various facets of the human experience (from socio-political order to personal cultivation). Though not attributed to any particular figure, the text is definitively Confucian in its emphases. As noted by Graham, the "derivation of all social bonds from kinship which distinguishes Confucianism from Mohism is nowhere plainer than in the 'Great Learning.' You extend to state and Empire the virtues learned inside the family."

This stress upon the extensibility of virtue

A further demonstration of congruence with major Confucian themes can be seen in the text's

Socio-Cultural Impact

The Great Learning is significant because it expresses many themes of Chinese philosophy and political thinking, and has therefore been extremely influential both in classical and modern Chinese thought. Government, self cultivation and investigation of things are linked. It links together individual action in the form of self-cultivation with higher goals such as ultimate world peace as well as linking together the spiritual and the material. By defining the path of learning (tao) in governmental and social terms, the Great Learning both links the spiritual with the practical, and creates a vision of tao that is radically different than that presented by Taoism. In particular, the Great Learning sets Confucianism as being this-worldly rather than other-worldly. Instead of basing its authority on an external deity, the Great Learning bases its authority on the practices of ancient kings.

The text also sets up a number of controversies that have underlain Chinese philosophy and political thinking. For example, one major controversy has been to define exactly the investigation of things. What things are to be investigated and how has been one of the crucial issues of Chinese philosophy.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• The Analects of Confucius. Translated and with an introduction by Roger T. Ames and Henry Rosemont, Jr. New York: Ballantine Books, 1998.
• Berthrong, John H. Transformations of the Confucian Way. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1998. ISBN 0813328047
• Chan, Wing-tsit. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1963.
• Graham, A.C. Disputers of the Tao: Philosophical Argument in Ancient China. LaSalle, IL: Open Court Press, 1993. ISBN 0812690877.
• Schwartz, Benjamin. The World of Thought in Ancient China. Cambridge, MS and London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1985.
• Tu Wei-ming. "The Way, Learning, and Politics in Classical Confucian Humanism" in Way, Learning, and Politics: Essays on the Confucian Intellectual. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1993. 1-12. ISBN 0-7914-1755-1.
• Tu Wei-ming. "The Structure and Function of the Confucian Intellectual in Ancient China" in Way, Learning, and Politics: Essays on the Confucian Intellectual. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1993. 13-28. ISBN 0-7914-1755-1.
• Watson, Burton. Basic Writings of Mo Tzu, Hsün Tzu, and Han Fei Tzu. New York and London: Columbia University Press, 1967.
• Yao, Xinzhong. An Introduction to Confucianism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-521-64430-5.

External links

• English & French translations arrayed with Chinese text
• English Translation, by Charles Muller

This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

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