Ample rest and reflection such that one achieves peace of mind. The seminar ended and all the students rushed out before the speaker and I could get to the door. Principal teachings of the Great Learning Achieving a state of balance and refining one’s moral self such that it is a reflection of the Way of Tao. I had to shout to introduce our guest speaker, who then struggled to deliver her talk as students continued to chat, come in late, and go out to answer their telephones. I opened the door to a lecture theatre that was as noisy as the bird market in town and saw in front of me a bunch of kids chatting, laughing, shouting, eating, and running around. It consists of a short main text attributed to Confucius and nine commentary chapters by Zengzi, one of the disciples of Confucius.

I barely recovered from the shock and hurried to the seminar. The Great Learning cites a number of historical cases to prove that the taste and value standards of a nation change along with what the royal court upholds. Great Learning Originally one chapter in the Book of Rites. I wondered how effective he would be in counselling his patients about avoiding risk taking behaviour. What the Great Learning teaches is: to illustrate illustrious virtue to renovate the people and to rest in the. I was sweating from the fright but he continued as if nothing had happened. I woke up in high spirits, ready for a full day of teaching, with a seminar in the morning and an outpatient consultation session in the afternoon.Īs my car turned into the road leading to the Medical Faculty, a student talking on his mobile phone jumped out in front of my car. In the standard Confucian curriculum of Wang’s era, the Great Learning was the first of the Four Books that students were assigned, and Zhu Xi’s commentary on it often made a lasting impression on them. It was the last day of the semester before Christmas. The way to great knowledge is to understand virtue … the emperor as well as an ordinary man must first develop self discipline, said Confucius-and this applies to future doctors as well

The great learning by confucius