Reflections on Things at Hand (UNESCO Collection of Representative Works: Chinese) by Wing-tsit Chan

by Zhu Xi

A translation of a work by he Song Dynasty philosopher Zhu Xi.

Genres: Philosophy, China, Nonfiction, History

Hardcover

First published December 1, 1966

About the author

Zhu Xi or Chu Hsi (Chinese: 朱熹, October 18, 1130 – April 23, 1200) was a Song Dynasty Confucian scholar who became the leading figure of the School of Principle and the most influential rationalist Neo-Confucian in China. His contributions to Chinese philosophy including his assigning special significance to the Analects of Confucius, the Mencius, the Great Learning, and the Doctrine of the Mean (the Four Books), his emphasis on the investigation of things (gewu), and the synthesis of all fundamental Confucian concepts, formed the basis of Chinese bureaucracy and government for over 700 years.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[이 지호 · Rating 4 out of 5]

is a philosophical work by Song(宋) Neo-Confucian philosopher Chu Hsi(朱熹).
Like Spinoza, Chu believed that everything on earth possesses the heavenly law. So in his theory, we have to self-cultivate ourself by analyzing everything. Through this process, we can become entitled to solve social problems.

[Sol 솔 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Jinsilu (“Reflections on Things at Hand”) is one of the most popular collections of Confucian quotes. Unlike the Lunyu (“Analects”), however, the most popular book of Confucian quotes, this collection is composed of writings from the Song dynasty, 1500 years later, and is more coherently written in paragraph or short-essay format.

The Sages included are Cheng Yi, Cheng Hao, Zhang Zai, and Zhou Dunyi (in order of frequency). The translator, Wing-tsit Chan, also includes much commentary from Zhu Xi, the compiler, which explains the meaning of the passages. Translations are excellent and use the same translation lexicon as A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy.

The only downside is that it uses 20th-century Wade-Giles instead of modern Pinyin, and without Chinese characters. But that was how it was back then, so we cannot really complain. Highly recommended, and the red/gold hardcover is very attractive.