Neo-Confucianism, Japan, and “Nature Is Principle”: Foundations for a Comparison of Emerson and Zhu Xi

This chapter provides both a historical framework and an argument for the comparison of the philosophies of Emerson and Zhu Xi. The first of the six sections in the chapter demonstrate the influence of Confucianism on Emerson’s writings through his engagement of the Four Books. The second describes the emergence and development of Neo-Confucianism in China, introducing the principal thinkers, Zhu Xi, Lu Xiangshan (隆象山 1139–92), and Wang Yangming (王陽明 1472–1528), who would define the philosophical views that framed Emerson’s reception in Japan, as well as the more in-depth comparison of Emerson and Zhu Xi in subsequent chapters.