Ta Hsueh and Chung Yung are two of the central texts of early Chinesethought, encapsulating Confucian philosophy on the Way of moralcultivation and spiritual attainment. Traditionally held to be the work oftwo of Confucius' closest disciples, the books were compiled in theirpresent form late in the second or first century BCE and have occupieda central position in educational and political life for almost a thousandyears throughout the East Asian cultural sphere. The texts focus on theconnection between internal self-cultivation and the external real-ization of one's moral core in the fulfilment of the practical aims ofConfucian life: the observance of ritual, the proper conduct of person-al relationships, and the grand enterprise of maintaining order in thestate and the world.

Andrew Plaks's superb new translation is accompanied by an intro-duction discussing the significance and influence of the two texts, witha preface by Xinzhong Yao exploring the development of Confucianideals. This edition also includes a chronological table, notes, guidesto interpretation and appendices.

Preface

Chronological Table of Chinese

  History

Introduction

Further Reading

A Note on the Translations

Ta Hsueh

The Highest Order of Cultivation

Chung Yung

On the Practice of the Mean

Notes

 Ta Hsueh

Structural Analysis

The Integral Argument

Reader's Notes

 Chung Yung

Structural Analysis

The Integral Argument

Reader's Notes

Appendix Ⅰ. Further Discussion

  of Basic Concepts

Appendix Ⅱ. Use of Proof-texts

Appendix Ⅲ. Textual History

  of the Ta Hsueh and

  Chung Yung