Okay, here is the translation following your instructions: On Respecting Virtue and Inquiring into Learning: A Study of Wu Cheng's Philosophical Thought

Author: Fang Xudong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: This book is a systematic study of the philosophical thought of the Yuan Dynasty Confucian scholar Wu Cheng. The author employs a research method that combines textual analysis with modern interpretation, placing Wu Cheng within the broader historical context of the New Confucianism of the Song Dynasty. Following the cognitive framework of the Way (Dao) as the unity of body and mind—learning—application, the book examines and organizes propositions and doctrines such as "the principle (Li) precedes the material force (Qi)," the theory of the Taiji (Great Ultimate), "principle and differentiation," the theory of human nature, the mind school, "learning for breadth," the essence and sequence of learning, methods of learning, and methods of self-cultivation. Through this, it comprehensively elucidates the theoretical system of Wu Cheng's philosophical thought, highlighting and revealing its fundamental characteristics and historical significance.
From the perspective of the problem awareness, the concept of the Dao tradition, and the cultivation methods reflected in Wu Cheng's philosophy, as well as his overall academic direction and scope, Wu Cheng was not a moderate between Zhu Xi and Lu Jiuyuan but primarily an inheritor of Zhu Xi's thought. He could be appropriately termed a "post-Zhu Xi scholar."
Theoretically, Wu Cheng first proposed the proposition "the principle (Li) exists within the material force (Qi)" in the history of Chinese philosophy. In the history of the mind school, Wu Cheng's views represent an inheritance of the entire Song Dynasty Confucianism, not just Lu Jiuyuan's mind school. In terms of learning methods, Wu Cheng's vast academic framework and the emphasis on understanding the principle (Li) as the primary goal of learning fully reflect the path of "seeking learning through inquiry" re-emphasized by Zhu Xi. Moreover, Wu Cheng's emphasis on reverence (jing) as the foundation of knowing and acting demonstrates that his understanding of "revering moral nature" largely inherits the tradition of "reverence for the Way" (zhunjing) of Cheng and Zhu.