Instructions for Practical Living

Instructions for Practical Living and Other Neo-Confucian Writings by Wang Yang-ming, translated by Wing-tsit Chan, 309 pages

Wang Yang-ming led a turbulent life as a distinguished general and statesman during the height of the Ming dynasty, but it is as a sage that he has been remembered and venerated.  Instructions for Practical Living is the definitive collection of his works, gathering together a number of reconstructed conversations with his disciples alongside selected letters and essays dealing with philosophical issues.

Central to Wang's interpretation of Confucianism is his principle of innate knowledge - the mind is naturally attuned to the fundamental harmony of Being, but human selfishness confuses and obscures this original clarity.  The true sage possesses a perfect equilibrium of mind, although the pursuit of tranquility is itself an obstacle to tranquility.  All innate knowledge is the same - the pure mind of innate knowledge is shared by all and by Heaven itself.  Since this knowledge is within everything, growth in righteousness is a natural, organic process, provided it is allowed to proceed without deformation.  Balancing this inward orientation are his teachings on the unity between thought and action - only in action is knowledge perfected.

Wang's Neo-Confucianism is a scholastic enterprise, dependent upon the interpretation of texts by venerated authors and the existence of a vast collection of commentaries upon them.  As such, it is difficult for a reader not immersed in the literature of Confucianism to firmly grasp much of Wang's meaning.  Nor is the difficulty entirely the result of a loss of context - Wang's disciples split into multiple opposing schools soon after his death, and even a good part of the Instructions consists of clarifications of his teaching.