LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Chu Hsi
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Chu Hsi's avoidance of public office was by no means an indication of a lack of interest in public affairs. As a matter of fact, he expressed himself only too freely and forcefully in a number of memorials presented to and at audiences with the succession of emperors during his lifetime. Chu Hsi assumed the role of guardian of Confucian principles and His Majesty's mentor and loyal opposition. The sealed memorial which he presented to Emperor Hsiao Tsung in 1188 in response to a summons to the court was especially lengthy and noteworthy. It began with an explanation of Chu Hsi's reasons for declining repeated appointments; namely, it would be inconsistent both for him and for the government if he occupied a government post while his advice and policies were rejected. Then it proceeded to the key point of the memorial - a basic teaching of Confucius - that good government could be achieved only through the "rectification" of the person of the Emperor.
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One of Chu Hsi's primary targets was the Zen Buddhist contention that to get to the original pureness of mind, all thoughts must be extinguished, all emotions and desires removed. Chu protested that this eliminates any notion of human creativity, and that this God-given creative power is the very nature of the mind. What they fail to understand, he said, is that the nature of the mind, like the mind of Heaven,
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The Confucian Golden Rule is formulated in three of the Four Books, which Chu Hsi grouped together as primary texts of Confucianism. All of these three the Analects, the Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean attach great importance to the rule as the imperative of shu or consideration for others. It has been objected that the Golden Rule is not always applicable, because one's desires may be different from others', and because what one de facto desires does not necessarily coincide with what one should desire. Chu Hsi believed that he could refute both of the objections by his methodological argument based on the "Eight Steps" in the Great Learning. In his view the practice of the rule presupposes self-cultivation, which begins with the investigation of li or principle to the utmost. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the authenticity of Chu Hsi's doctrines was questioned by the Japanese Confucianists who belonged to the "Ancient Learning" school.
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Chu Hsi objected to Buddhism on the grounds of its teachings and its practice of monasticism and tried to conduct his life according to Confucian teachings, to stand as a living example of Confucian sagehood. Chu Hsi's daily life is vividly described in a eulogistic account written by Huang Kan, his disciple and son-in-law: "As regards his conduct and character, his appearance was dignified and his language to the point. He moved with an easy gait and he sat in an erect posture. Ordinarily he rose before dawn, wearing his long robe, a hat, and square shoes, and began the day by paying respects to his departed ancestors and the early sages at the ancestral temple. Then he repaired to his study, where the desks and tables, books and stationery were all arranged in good order. For his meals, the soups and dishes and spoons and chopsticks were placed each in its appointed place.
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Recognized as one of the greatest philosophers in classical China, Chu Hsi (1130-1200) is known in the West primarily through translations of one of his many works, the Chin-ssu Lu. In this book, Julia Ching offers the first book-length examination of Chu Hsi's religious thought, based on extensive reading of both primary and secondary sources. Ching begins by providing an introduction to Chu's twelfth-century intellectual context. She then examines Chu's natural philosophy, looking in particular at the ideas of the Great Ultimate and at spirits and deities and the rituals that honor them. Next, Ching considers Chu's interpretation of human nature and the emotions, highlighting the mystical thrust of the theoretical and practical teachings of spiritual cultivation and meditation. She discusses Chu's philosophical disputes with his contemporariesin particular Lu Chiu-yuanand examines his relationship to Buddhism and Taoism.
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Chu Hsi was convinced that through education anyone could learn to be fully moral and ... travel the road to sagehood. Throughout his life, he struggled with the philosophical questions underlying education: What should people learn? How should they go about learning? What enables them to learn? What are the aims and the effects of learning?
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Chu Hsi