Since ancient times, sages and virtuous people, each and all, have regarded the mind’s moral nature as the root.

Preserving Cultivation

《以下論存養》

The ancients said that aspiration leads the mind. You, as the sovereign, need the mind to have a standpoint, to begin to own the mind. If this is not accumulated, the whole body will then not have anyplace to govern toward. [2.5]

• • •

[From 2.6 to 2.53]

Maintaining Seriousness

《以下論持敬》

[From 2.54 to 2.99]

Quietude

《以下論靜》

[From 2.100 to 2.130]

Work in progress: [130] index numbers altogether.

Source: the “Complete Works of Zhu Xi,” Qing Dynasty imperial compilation. From Zhejiang University Library, scanned by China-America Digital Academic Library (CADAL). Digitized Chinese text, with corresponding index numbers, is available at the Chinese Text Project (CTEXT).

Translated titles, from right to left:
[1] Imperially Commissioned, Complete Library of the Four Treasuries (欽定四庫全書)
[2] Imperial Collection of Zhu Zi's Complete Works (御纂朱子全書)
[3] Volume One (卷二)
[4] Learning Part Two (學二): Accumulating Cultivation - Maintaining Seriousness - Quietude 《存養, 持敬,靜》

Note: Comments by the imperial compliers are in brackets [like this].

[AI] marked index numbers are "paraphrase-translations" using GPT-4. The AI has been trained, the results spot-checked, and corrections made iteratively through numerous versions. Nevertheless, these should be considered no more than approximate paraphrases of what Zhu Xi wrote. Index numbers without the [AI] marker, or specific sections of an index marked with an asterisk, are completed word-for-word translations.