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The Daxue: What’s so “great” about it?, and the Zhongyong: What does it mean? – A Reconsideration of the Core Arguments of the Latter Two Formulations of the “Four Books” Vision

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | March 9 | 4-6 p.m. | IEAS conference room, sixth floor

Location: 2223 Fulton Street, Berkeley, CA 94720

Speaker/Performer: Andrew Plaks, Professor Emeritus, Chinese Literature, Princeton University

Sponsor: Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

The texts of the Daxue and the Zhongyong are so central to the articulation of ‘classical’ Confucian teachings that they have been expounded and memorized –and subjected to very extensive exegetical readings -- for centuries, as virtually sacred scripture. But aside from inexhaustible disputation regarding the meaning of key terms and concepts in the works, and debates regarding their authorship and intellectual lineage in late-imperial and modern scholarship, they have not often been analysed as self-contained, integral philosophical treatises in their own right. In this talk, the speaker will contend that these canonic formulations of the ‘Four Books’ vision do not reflect an inconsistent melange of Warring States and early Han thought, but rather constitute a carefully constructed set of interlocking arguments on the practical and theoretical core of Confucian self-realization.

Event Contact: ccs@berkeley.edu, 510-643-6321