Confucian Propriety and Ritual Learning

Geir Sigurðsson is Associate Professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Iceland.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionInterpretive Viewpoints and PrejudgmentsSubjective Objectivity and Hermeneutic Productivity of Cultural DistanceChinese Culture, Ritual Propriety, and the Importance of LearningThe Modern Opprobrium of Ritual and the Confucian Tradition1. First Assemblage: Tradition and TimelinessFrom Aversion to Rehabilitation: The Modern Discourse on TraditionTradition as Dao 道: The Early Confucian Approach to TraditionThe Temporal Sequence of Practice and the Chinese Notion of TimeHitting the Mark: Zhong 中, Shizhong 時中, and Zhongyong 中庸2. Second Assemblage: From Reason to IntelligenceEducation and/or Indoctrination: A Borderless DistinctionReason I: Max Weber’s ParadoxReason II: The Quest for Reason in ChinaReason III: Reasonable AlternativesReason IV: The Interplay of Li 禮, Yi 義, and Li 理 3. Third Assemblage: Education as HumanizationEducation through Experience: Reconciling Tradition and ReasonAesthetic Consciousness and Ritual KnowledgeInternalization and Efficacy: Li 禮, Yue 樂, De 德, and Ren 仁 Education as Exhortation and Personal CultivationConcluding RemarksNotesLiterature CitedIndex

"Confucian Propriety and Ritual Learning is a well-argued and meticulously researched study of classical Confucian notions of ritual, education, and moral self-cultivation … an important contribution that will hopefully introduce many new readers to the works of classical Confucian philosophy and encourage future comparative projects." — Dao"...I highly recommend this book to those who already have a deep understanding of early Chinese intellectual history and who do not shy away from new methodological approaches to and perspectives on early Confucianism." — Daniel Sungbin Sou, Religious Studies Review