When we read a book, we must first understand the meaning of the words. Herewithin the fundamental concepts of the Confucian Way are defined by paraphrasing the great sages themselves, and by properly prioritizing the Song Dynasty thinkers who created the Four Books curriculum. Each term is also accompanied by three direct quotes from sages and worthies which instantiate the definition and elucidate meaning.

1. The Noble Man 君子

2. The Five Virtues 五常

3. Fundamental Concepts of Reality 天本

4. Man’s Mind and Character 心德

5. Central Concepts [in progress]

6. Secondary Values [in progress]

7. Various Terminology [in progress]

8. Learning of the Way [coming soon]

9. Lineage of the Dao [coming soon]

10. Worthy Persons [coming soon]

QUOTE SOURCES

The Four Books curriculum:

Daxue zhangju 大學章句 (“Commentary on the Great Learning”)

Lunyu jizhu 論語集注 (“The Discourses with Collected Commentaries”)

Mengzi jizhu 孟子集注 (“The Mengzi with Collected Commentaries”)

Zhongyong zhangju 中庸章句 (“Commentary on the Doctrine of the Mean”)

Companion texts:

Sishu ziyi 四書字義 (“An Explanation of Terms in the Four Books”), popularly known as Beixi ziyi 北溪字義 (“Chen Chun’s Explanation of Terms”)

Jinsilu 近思錄 (“Reflections on Things at Hand”)

Other texts:

Zhuzi yulei 朱子語類 (“Collected Conversations of Master Zhu”)

Zhuzi quanshu 朱子全書 (“Complete Works of Master Zhu”)

Note on translation: Translation generally follows the lexicon established by Wing-tsit Chan, with minor modification (e.g. “rightness” instead of “righteousness” for yi 義, and “noble man” instead of “superior man” for junzi 君子).