Instructions for Practical Living (proofread and annotated by Ye Shengtao)

by Wang Yangming

Instructions for Practical Living is a collection of quotations about learing and letters of Wang Yangming, a famous philosopher in Ming Dynasty, which contains the main philosophical thoughts of Wang Yangming and intensely reflects the essence of Yangming's ideology on mind. The book is divided into three volumes. The quotations in the first volume were reviewed by Wang Yangming himself. The second volume contains Wang Yangming's letters, and is a work in his old age. Although the quotation in the third volume were not reviewed by Wang Yangming himself, the last volume specifically explains the academic thoughts of Wang Yangming in his later years.

305 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2017

About the author

Wang Yangming, courtesy name Bo'an, was a Chinese idealist Neo-Confucian philosopher, official, educationist, calligraphist and general during the Ming dynasty. After Zhu Xi, he is commonly regarded as the most important Neo-Confucian thinker, with interpretations of Confucianism that denied the rationalist dualism of the orthodox philosophy of Zhu Xi. He is best known for his theory of the unity of knowledge and action.

Wang was known as "Yangming Xiansheng" and/or "Yangming Zi" in literary circles: both mean "Master Yangming".