Reading list

The Confucian Way

From Confucius and Mencius to the Neo-Confucian philosophy of principle and the mind.

Beginning. 6 steps

Orientation

Tradition
Confucianism
The tradition’s aims, virtues and history, from Confucius to the present.

Text
Confucian Analects
Confucius, tr. James Legge, 1861
Read the Analects slowly, a few sayings at a time, noting what ren means.
Text
The Works of Mencius
Mencius, tr. James Legge, 1861
Begin with the child at the well and the four sprouts (2A6).

Concept
Li (principle)
The key to the later tradition: principle, vital energy and the investigation of things.
Text
Reflections on Things at Hand
tr. Wing-tsit Chan, 1967
The Northern Song masters as Zhu Xi chose and arranged them.
Text
Instructions for Practical Living and Other Neo-Confucian Writings
Wang Yangming, tr. Wing-tsit Chan, 1963
Wang Yangming’s challenge: the mind is principle, and knowing is acting.

Cite this entry

Chicago (bibliography): “The Confucian Way.” Reading list. The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society. Last modified November 7, 2026. https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/reading-lists/the-confucian-way.
Chicago (note): “The Confucian Way,” reading list, The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society, last modified November 7, 2026, https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/reading-lists/the-confucian-way.
MLA: “The Confucian Way.” The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society, 7 Nov. 2026, www.unitiveknowledge.org/reading-lists/the-confucian-way.
BibTeX: @misc{reading-lists-the-confucian-way, title = {{The Confucian Way}}, howpublished = {The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society}, note = {Reading list. Last modified November 7, 2026}, year = {2026}, url = {https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/reading-lists/the-confucian-way} }