Six Discourses on Confucianism

Cultivate yourself and thus bring harmony among people.

Basic principle of Confucian teaching

According to many, in order to understand Chinese culture, one must first understand Confucianism. Chinese philosophy starts from the study of human life, and the main thing in it is the Way that makes man human. In what way is man truly man? How should one act towards man? The loftiest aim of its knowledge may be summed up by an expression from the "Book of Master Zhuangzi": sage within, king on the outside. When a man has brought the cultivation of his personality to the possible limit, he becomes a sage from within, i.e., he has attained inner perfection; when a man has brought his ability to bring peace and harmony among men to the possible limit, he becomes a king of the outside, or "king of the world, master of the outside."

Two thousand five hundred years of development of the sages' teachings, more than one hundred great Confucian scholars, dozens of important concepts of Confucian philosophy. Liang Qichao's university lectures, written in accessible language, are an unforgettable journey to the roots of Chinese culture.

The Chinese people's strong sense of history is the survival medium of the Chinese nation, its support and foundation; and there is no element of everyday life, culture and art, the great works of our poetry and prose, that is not deeply imbued with this sense of history, which is at its core the essential spirit of Confucian philosophy.

Li Zihou