.....Zhu Xi understood daotong ( "transmission of the dao" or Confucian orthodoxy). What texts, in sequence, were to be studied? Keeping in mind the context in which he wrote, accept, qualify or refute his position.Central to the evolution of Confucian orthodoxy, the teachings of Zhu Xi understood the transmission of the dao, the daotong, in terms of the natural ordering and hierarchy of the universe, and of universal laws. Daotong is conceptualized as a flow, a transmission of actual energy from a source higher on the cosmological hierarchy, or from the principle of Heaven, tianli (Adler 143). Moreover, the transmission of the dao is presented as an ongoing flow, more like a waterfall than a tap that gets turned off or on according to the will or desire of the human being. Zhu Xi's understanding was, however, ironically rigid and inflexible. His teachings deeply conflicted with prevailing Confucian ideology, and were yet later embraced. Zhu Xi's perspective was rooted in the selective transmission of the dao; daotong was not as arbitrary as simply receiving the heavily outflowing of wisdom but instead was categorically refined and distilled into essential texts. The authors of those texts as well as their content determined their orthodoxy and their efficacy in Zhi Xi's eyes, reflecting a moral and doctrinal hierarchy that is essentially compatible with the underlying Confucian philosophy, cosmology, and worldview. Zhu Xi, for example, harbored a strong belief in an inherited line of succession, as if the waterfall of heavenly knowledge could be transmitted directly through specific individuals not unlike the western prophetic traditions. For example, the daotong could be traced directly from Confucius onto Mencius. These sort of mystical underpinnings of Zhu Xi's teachings contradict somewhat the rational and logical spirit conveyed through his work.
Zhu Xi affirmed a hierarchy also of Confucian texts, codified later into the Four Books (Great Learning, the Doctrine of the Mean, the Analects and the Mencius, which were to be disseminated and received in a specific order from Great Learning to Xunz. The texts were imbued with power, as with scripture and wisdom teachings. There were also false doctrines, according to Zhu Xi, which...
"Chance and Necessity in Zhu Xi's Conceptions of Heaven and Tradition." European Journal for Philosophy of Religion 8:1 (2016), 143-162.
2. Explain what was at issue in the "Four-Seven" debate among Korean Confucian thinkers.
The Four-Seven debate is pivotal for Korean Confucian history and knowledge. It stems from Zhu Xi, actually, whose teachings made a tremendous and lasting impact on Choson-era Korea. The four-seven debate refers first to the more esoteric and symbolic concepts of the "four beginnings" and the "seven feelings," stemming from I and ki, respectively (Cua 104). Because Zhu Xi left many of the issues surrounding the emanations of the beginnings and feelings unclear and unexplained in text, when the Confucian teachings of Zhu Xi arrived in Korea, Korean philosophers grappled with the four beginnings and the seven feelings, leading to an intense scholarly debate. Central figures in Korean philosophy at the height of the four-seven debate included T'oegye (Yi Hwang), Yulgok (Yi I), Kobong (Ki Taesung), and Ugye (Song Hon). The debate flourished during the 16th century, focusing on multiple metaphysical concerns including the nature of human consciousness and the nature of the universe. However, some philosophers also focused on the moral components of the four-seven debate, adding complexity to it. For example, I as a cosmological substance was deemed to have a moral component to it, and was rendered as superior to ki, which manifests more concretely in human nature and behavior.
At stake, therefore, was the very nature of existence and related to Confucian epistemology as well as cosmology and ontology. T'oegye believed that I and ki remained definitively separate, as they were constructed from completely different source energy or source material. Yet T'oegye also showed how both are present or at least influence human nature (Cua 104). The concept of the four beginnings can also be traced to Mencius, and provided Korean philosophers with the ability to assert that human nature was essentially morally upright, in spite of the tendency towards the "seven…
