70. Cheng Yi: What Kind of Learning Was It that Yanzi Loved?
A Sourcebook in Global Philosophy - Mohammed Rustom
Philip J. Ivanhoe [+]
Georgetown University
Description
What Kind of Learning Was It that Yanzi Loved? is one of Cheng Yi’s most famous and influential essays. It expresses his belief in a fundamental tension between the physical world, the realm of qi, and the realm of pattern-principle (li); he saw the former as a clear and ever-present threat to a thorough understanding of the latter and so an impediment to the realization of the oneness between self and world. The text goes on to describe the proper course of learning, a path that was said to lead to the rectification of the heart-mind through the investigation of things and the extension of knowledge. Such knowledge or “clarity” (ming) properly orients one to pursue an understanding of one’s nature and practice the correct way to nurture it. By maintaining an attitude of reverence, the process of deepening knowledge of one’s nature leads one to complete the self and return to integrity, thereby achieving the goal of being a sage.