Acknowledgments xi

Introduction 1

Part I Neo-Confucian Metaphysics: From Cosmology to Ontology 29

1 From Nothingness to Infinity: The Origin of Zhou Dunyi’s Cosmology 31

2 The Basic Constituent of Things: Zhang Zai’s Monist Theory of Qi 61

3 Cheng–Zhu School’s Normative Realism: The Principle of the Universe 85

4 Wang Fuzhi’s Theory of Principle Inherent in Qi 103

Part II Human Nature, Human Mind, and the Foundation of Human Morality 123

5 Zhu Xi’s Internal Moral Realism: Human Nature Is Principle 125

6 Lu Xiangshan and Wang Yangming’s Doctrine of Mind Is Principle 139

7 Wang Fuzhi’s Theory of Daily Renewal of Human Nature and His Moral Psychology 157

Part III The Cultivation of Virtue, Moral Personality, and the Construction of a Moral World 181

8 Zhang Zai on Cultivating Moral Personality 183

9 The Cheng Brothers’ Globaist Virtue Ethics and Virtue Epistemology 205

10 Zhu Xi’s Methodology for Cultivating Sagehood: Moral Cognitivism and Ethical Rationalism 227

11 Wang Yangming’s Intuitionist Model of Innate Moral Sense and Moral Reflexivism 245

12 Constructing a Moral World: Wang Fuzhi’s Social Sentimentalism 265

References 285

Index 301