Zhu Xi

These writings of Zhu Xi's will be extraordinarily useful for a wide audience, including general readers. A volume like this for Song Neo-Confucianism is long past due. -- Robert Andre LaFleur, author of <i>China: A Global Studies Handbook</i> With introductions succinctly explaining why and how the philosopher reshaped the Confucian tradition and what his basic and most enduring teachings are about, this volume is an elegant translation of passages carefully selected and thematically arranged to convey the central message of Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism. As an eminent scholar in the field, Gardner has successfully rendered its profundity not only more intelligible to students but also readily accessible to the public. -- Charles Chan, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Gardner, the foremost interpreter of Zhu Xi in America, strikes a perfect balance between translation and explication: he takes the reader through a nuanced reading of key passages from Zhu's voluminous oeuvre, supplying at just the right points explanations of concepts and contexts. A superb resource for students of China, in the classroom and beyond. -- Cynthia Brokaw, Brown University Daniel Gardner gives us an excellent guide to Zhu Xi's ideas on a broad range of topics that concerned him. By drawing materials largely from Zhu's conversations with students, Gardner often lets us see Zhu thinking on his feet in response to questions, offering fascinating insights into an important mind at work. -- Robert Paul Hymes,