"Conversations on the Doctrine of the Mean"

Author: Shen Shunkui Translated and Annotated
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-06-01
Features: The Collected Letters on Learning (Chuanxi Lü) is a concise collection of letters by the Ming Dynasty philosopher Wang Yangming on academic matters, serving as an enlightenment classic of the Yangming School during the Ming Dynasty. The entire Chuanxi Lü is divided into three volumes (Upper, Middle, and Lower), compiled from the recorded teachings of Wang Yangming by his disciples and letters he wrote in response to friends and disciples on academic matters. It is the most renowned work for studying the practice of Yangming's Mind School, encompassing Wang Yangming's entire philosophical system and its fundamental doctrines, regarded as the sacred scripture of the Wang School and a classic of Mind School. In The Collected Letters on Learning, Master Wang Yangming expounds on his rich philosophical thoughts. Regarding Mind School, he stated: "There are no objects outside the mind," "There is no principle outside the mind," "Seeking the highest good in all things and affairs is to seek the external meaning, whereas the highest good is the original nature of the mind," "The mind is principle; is there anything outside the mind that is not the mind, or anything outside the mind that is not principle?" "My spiritual light is the master of heaven, earth, spirits, and gods; heaven, earth, spirits, and all things cease to exist without my spiritual light." He believed that the existence of things depends on human consciousness. The Collected Letters on Learning is Master Wang Yangming's masterpiece, which not only influenced Chinese thinkers for over a hundred years but also gained international acclaim. In Japan since the Meiji Restoration and in South Korea during its economic boom, it has been regarded as a spiritual model.