Qian Dehong - Philosophy

Philosophy

Qian was an early student (or disciple) of the philosopher Wang Yangming, together with his classmate Wang Ji. Qian spent most of his life studying confusian classics and developing the philosophy of the Yangming School of Mind (陽明心學/阳明心学; Japanese: 陽明学; Japanese romanization: Ōyōmei-gaku, Ō stands for the surname "Wang", yōmei stands for "Yangming", gaku means "school of learning").

Qian collected and emended Wang's philosophical works. When Wang died, he also edited Wang's full biography. Qian demonstrated and further developed Wang Yangming's philosophy, especially the explanation of Wang Yangming's influential Four-Sentence Doctrine (四句教), however his interpretation was quite different from his classmate and colleague Wang Ji's.

Qian wrote the preface and postscript for Wang Yangming's most important philosophical work - The Record of Teaching and Practising (《傳習錄》/《传习录》)

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