Zhu Xi’s Political Philosophy in Context: With Special Focus on His Commentaries of the Four Books

Abstract

Many intellectual historians and philosophers concur that late in the Song宋 periods (960–1279) the most authoritative texts for the Chinese literati were displaced from the Five Classics—the Book of Changes, the Book of History, the Book of Poetry, the Book of Rites, and the Spring and Autumn Annals—to the Four Books—the Analects, the Mencius, the Great Learning, and the Doctrine of the Mean. At least, the Four Books became relatively more prominent around the end of the Song periods. Since then, the status of the Four Books as the most important classics has remained virtually unchanged for 800 years, although the Five Classics still had a crucial status until late Qing (1636–1912). Although each of the Four Books had attracted attention over the centuries preceding the Song dynasty, it was Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130–1200) who wrote influential commentaries on the Four Books and published them together as the Sizi 四子 (Four Masters), another name for the Four Books, in 1190. When the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) instituted the civil service examinations in 1313–1315, the rulers adopted Zhu’s commentaries as their basis. In 1384, the Ming founder also reinstituted them as the curriculum of the civil service examinations. As there was almost no other access to office except through these examinations, Zhu’s commentaries had become required reading for anyone who aspired to become a member of the elite until the early decades of the twentieth century. Even after they had lost much of their appeal as required reading, they attracted Sinologists’ attention because they were arguably the most widely read texts in late imperial China.

An earlier version of this article was first discussed at the second Middle Period Conference, held at Leiden University, in September 2017. I would like to thank the commentators for their comments on an earlier draft of this article. Unless otherwise indicated translations are my own.