Answer
The Great Learning, or Daxue, originally a chapter in the Book of Rites, is one of Confucianism’s “Four Books.” The Neo-Confucian philosopher Zhu Xi selected these books during the Song Dynasty. These texts have shaped Chinese ethics, politics, and educational systems and have influenced ancient and modern thought.
The Great Learning is a short text attributed to Confucius. Zengzi, a disciple of Confucius, is credited with commenting on it. Zhu Xi divided the text into three sections: the main text, the commentary, and the explanation. These sections outline a guide for achieving personal and communal harmony through self-cultivation and societal governance.
According to the Great Learning, followers must align personal virtues with societal and political ideals. To achieve alignment, people must follow an eight-step process: investigate things, expand knowledge and sincere thoughts, rectify the mind, cultivate the self, regulate the family, govern the state, and achieve peace under heaven. There is a clear connection between individual morality and societal order.
The main themes of the Great Learning are as follows:
• Self-cultivation begins with introspection and is followed by self-improvement. In other words, virtuous governance starts with righteous people. Investigating things and seeking truth/knowledge is the foundation for moral improvement.
• Personal ethics should extend to the family, society, and state. Integrity and sincerity create a harmonious society. For Confucious, rulers must be the moral exemplar.
• Knowledge and application are inseparable. People should know the moral principles, but said principles should be lived. Again, there is a link between ethics and government.
Zhu Xi included the Great Learning in his collection called Sishu (“Four Books”) in the twelfth century. The Sishu serves as an introduction to Confucianism and features Xi’s commentary on Confucius’ works and those of Confucian scholars. The Great Learning, with the books Analects, Mencius, and Doctrine of the Mean, became the foundation of Chinese education, especially in the imperial examination system. The Great Learning was a philosophical guide and a practical manual for life.• Personal ethics should extend to the family, society, and state. Integrity and sincerity create a harmonious society. For Confucious, rulers must be the moral exemplar.
• Knowledge and application are inseparable. People should know the moral principles, but said principles should be lived. Again, there is a link between ethics and government.
Xi infused the text with metaphysical insights through the concepts of li (principle) and qi (vital force). The Great Learning thus establishes a connection between moral philosophy and cosmology.
The Great Learning presents a framework for self-cultivation and societal harmony, but the Bible has a different model. In Christianity, the foundation for moral and societal progress is not human effort but God’s saving grace:
• Proverbs 1:7 states, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” (ESV). The Great Learning teaches self-cultivation through investigation, but the Bible teaches that reverential fear of God is the source of wisdom.
• Romans 12:2 exhorts, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will” (ESV). Knowledge of God’s will does not come from personal effort but through the illumination of the Holy Spirit.
• Like the Great Learning, the Bible mentions leadership and ethical governance, but the point of departure differs. In Christianity, the starting point is Christ, who “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8, ESV). Godly leaders place the interests of others above their own. Jesus told His disciples, “Let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves” (Luke 22:26, ESV).
• The Bible mentions “peace under heaven” in Revelation 21:4 but in the context of Jesus’ shed blood. For those who have trusted Christ’s finished work, God “will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death.” The end of death is the beginning of life. A peaceful life is not achieved through human governance but through faith in Christ.
The Great Learning is a deep philosophical text but fundamentally opposes biblical Christianity. Biblical Christianity teaches that Jesus is the “founder and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2, ESV). Therefore, self-cultivation and societal harmony cannot save us; God’s grace saves us through faith in Christ (see Ephesians 2:8–9).• Romans 12:2 exhorts, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will” (ESV). Knowledge of God’s will does not come from personal effort but through the illumination of the Holy Spirit.
• Like the Great Learning, the Bible mentions leadership and ethical governance, but the point of departure differs. In Christianity, the starting point is Christ, who “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8, ESV). Godly leaders place the interests of others above their own. Jesus told His disciples, “Let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves” (Luke 22:26, ESV).
• The Bible mentions “peace under heaven” in Revelation 21:4 but in the context of Jesus’ shed blood. For those who have trusted Christ’s finished work, God “will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death.” The end of death is the beginning of life. A peaceful life is not achieved through human governance but through faith in Christ.