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The Confucian Ethics Curriculum in Singapore 99

Category 1: Shapers of the Confucian tradition, including Chinese, Korean, and
Japanese Confucian scholars.
Category 2: Models of inner sageliness and outer kingliness, who combine the
virtues of a sage with the magnificence of a king.
Category 3: Exemplars of Confucianism who made significant contributions to
the state and society.

The editors stated that, “Although these historical figures lived in different times
and were confronted with different challenges, they all did their best to serve the
country and society regardless of their personal successes or failures.” Therefore,
the purpose of compiling their life stories into a book is to “hope that young readers
can learn from them, constantly enrich themselves, refine themselves, overcome
all difficulties, and make progress in life” (CDIS, 1987, Preface).
The editors named the two-volume Confucian Ethics Supplementary Reading
Book: The Road They Took, and each of the two volumes for secondary three and
four contains 20 passages. The titles of these 40 passages are as follows:

The Road They Took: Confucian Ethics Supple- The Road They Took: Confucian Ethics Sup-
mentary Reading Book for Secondary Three plementary Reading Book for Secondary Four
I Shapers of the Confucian Tradition I Models of Inner Sageliness and Outer
Kingliness
 Confucius: The Sage  Legendary Ancient Sage Kings—Yao,
Shun, and Yu
 Four Students of Confucius (the brave and  Shang Tang and Duke of Zhou
straightforward Zi Lu, the wise and knowl-
edgeable Zi Gong, the modest and studious
Yan Hui, and the filial Zeng Zi)
 The Second-Greatest Sage Mencius II The Shapers of the Confucian Tradition
 Xunzi, Who Focused on Ritual and Music  Dong Zhongshu, Who Advocated Confu-
cianism as State Orthodoxy
 Lu Xiangshan Wanted to Behave in an Upright  Pioneers of Confucianism in the Song
Manner Dynasty—Zhou Dunyi and Zhang Zai
 Zhu Xi, Master of the White Deer Cave  The Contrast of Gentleness and Serious-
Academy ness—Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi
 Wang Yangming, a Genius of Civil and Martial  Confucian Scholars Who Did Not Bow to
Arts Invaders—Gu Yanwu, Wang Fuzhi, and
Huang Zongxi
II Exemplars of Confucianism  Dai Zhen Enjoyed Reading
 Three great mothers (Mencius’ mother moved  The Great Korean Confucian Yi T’oegye
her residence three times to avoid bad influ-
ence for him and cut the cloth to admonish
him, Ouyang Xiu’s mother taught him how to
read and write by using a reed to write in the
dirt, and Yue Fei’s mother taught him to be
loyal and to serve the country.)