Great Learning
| Great Learning | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 大學 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Simplified Chinese | 大学 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Dà xué |
| Wade–Giles | Ta4 hsüeh2 |
| IPA | [tâ ɕy̯ě] |
| Wu | |
| Romanization | Da ghoh |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Yale Romanization | Daai hok |
| Southern Min | |
| Hokkien POJ | Tāi ha̍k |
| Middle Chinese | |
| Middle Chinese | Dai hæwk |
| Old Chinese | |
| Baxter-Sagart | *lˤa[t]-s m-kˤruk |
The Great Learning was one of the "Four Books" in Confucianism. The Great Learning had come from a chapter in the Classic of Rites which formed one of the Five Classics. It consists of a short main text attributed to the teachings of Confucius and then ten commentary chapters accredited to one of Confucius' disciples, Zengzi. The ideals of the book were supposedly Confucius's; however the text was written after his death.
The "Four Books" were selected by the neo-Confucian Zhu Xi during the Song Dynasty as a foundational introduction to Confucianism and examinations for the state civil service in China came to follow his lead.
Confucius, who incorporated ideas from earlier philosophers, compiled or edited the Classic of Rites and the Spring and Autumn Annals, two of the Five Classics. Confucius' student, Zengzi wrote the introduction and exposition of the Great Learning. Zeng Zi lived from 505-436 BC. Confucius taught 3000 pupils; of which 72 mastered the six arts. It is still unclear how much his students wrote and edited.
The Great Learning developed from many authors adapting to the needs and beliefs of the community at the time. The Cheng brothers, Yi (1033–1107) and Hao (1032–1085) both utilized the Great Learning's philosophies. Their ideas met with strong official opposition, but were reconstituted by Zhu Xi. Cheng's idea of yi was that it was identical with nature, which he believed was essentially good. Cheng's yi emphasized the necessity of acquiring knowledge.
During the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi rearranged the Great Learning and included it in the Four Books, along with the Doctrine of the Mean, the Analects of Confucius and the Mencius. Zhu Xi separated the Great Learning, which was originally a chapter in the Classic of Rites. Zhu Xi organized the book as Jing followed by ten expositions. Zhu Xi was a student of Li Tong. Zhu Xi developed the Chengs' Confucian ideas and drew from Chan Buddhism and Daoism. He adapted some ideas from these competing religions into his form of Confucianism.
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Wikipedia