Zhu Xi and The Great Learning

Flashcards defining key figures, texts, terms, and historical periods mentioned in Zhu Xi's preface to The Great Learning.

Zhu Xi

A Chinese scholar and philosopher who wrote a preface to a commentary on The Great Learning in 1190.

The Great Learning

A text of Confucian teachings that became a foundational text of examination for the Chinese civil service.

Vulgar Confucian scholarship

Scholarship of later times that stressed memorization and literary composition, but was of no real use according to Zhu Xi.

Five Dynasties period

An era of political chaos in China during the tenth century where disorder and destruction reached its extreme.

Buddhism and Daoism (in Zhu Xi's text)

Doctrines described as deviant with loftier goals that lacked solid substance and created confusion when mixed with Confucian teachings.

Song dynasty (in Zhu Xi's text)

A period whose virtuous power rose up, causing both government and education to shine with great luster and restoring the teaching methods of the ancients.