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“Self-Cultivation as the Root of All” 67

thus pave the way forward under the current framework. They are interested in the
continuity between ancient and modern China, whether their starting point be
idealistic political expectations, realistic political transformation, or a desire to
extol traditional values. At the same time, they all agree that “regulation of family
affairs, good state governance, and ensuring peace to all under heaven” cannot be
directly applied to present-day society, and needs to be reformulated to keep
abreast with modern social changes.
The “eight essential principles” which contain “regulationof familyaffairs, good
stategovernance,andensuring peace to all underheaven”are all closely related, and
come from the “Great Learning” section of The Book of Rites (《礼记 · 大学》). They are
listed first in reverse order and then the logic rotates back:

The ancients who wished to demonstrate illustrious virtues to all under heaven, first ran their
own states well. Wishing to run their states well, they first regulated their families. Wishing to
regulate their families, they first regulated themselves. Wishing to regulate themselves, they
first rectified their heart. Wishing to rectify their heart, they first sought to be sincere in their
thoughts. Wishing to be sincere in their thoughts, they first extended to the utmost knowledge.
Such extension of knowledge lay in the investigation of things. With things being investigated,
knowledge then became complete. With their knowledge being complete, their thoughts were
then sincere. With their thoughts being sincere, their heart was then rectified. With their heart
being rectified, they were then cultivated. With themselves being cultivated, their families were
then regulated. With their families being regulated, their states were then rightly governed.
With their states being rightly governed, there was peace to all under heaven. From the Son of
Heaven (天子) to the common people (庶民), all must consider the cultivation of oneself as the
root of everything. It cannot happen that when the root is neglected, and what should spring
from it will be well ordered. It has never been the case that what was of great importance has
been slightly cared for, or that what was of slight importance has been greatly cared for. This is
called knowing the root, and it is the highest state of knowing. 1
Following the thought of the writer there are three points to keep in mind. First,
“regulation of family affairs, good state governance, and ensuring peace to all under

1 Written by Zhu Bin (朱彬 1753–1834), punctuated and collated by Rao Qinnong (饶钦农 1920–
1995), Li Ji Xun Zuan (ShisanJingQingRen ZhuShu)(《礼记训纂》)(十三经清人注疏), Zhonghua
Book Company, 1996 edition, p. 866. In Zhu Xi’s(朱熹 1130–1200) Commentaries on the Four
Books (《四书章句集注》), the last sentence “This is called knowing the root, and is the highest
state of knowing” was moved to the end of the first chapter of The Great Learning. See Zhonghua
Book Company, 1983 edition, pp. 3–4, p. 6. Zhu Bin only had a general understanding of The
Great Learning, so he attached Zhu Xi’s version.
Chen Hao’s(陈澔 1260–1341) annotation of The Book of Rites (《礼记》 (Shanghai Classics
)
Publishing House, 2016 edition, p. 668) and Sun Xidan’s(孙希旦 1736–1784) Collected Expla-
nations of and Commentaries on the Book of Rites (《礼记集解》(Zhonghua Book Company, 1989
)
edition, p. 1410) both omitted The Great Learning altogether, and instead included Commentaries
on the Four Books, which shows the profound influence of Zhu Xi on later generations.