Learning of the Way (Daoxue):: Self-Cultivation Through Neo-Confucian Learning, Kungfu, and Martial Arts

John E. Young, PhD

May 2016 · Archway Publishing

About this ebook

Over two thousand years ago, the Chinese sage Confucius proposed that “learning, and putting persistent learning into practice, is a great joy or pleasure.” In Learning of the Way (Daoxue), Dr. John E. Young presents, from a Confucian perspective, the rationale for engaging in traditional Chinese arts and practices.

Dr. Young relies on his experience as a Chinese martial arts expert and professor emeritus to share the results of his comprehensive examination of the concept of Confucian learning that explores self-cultivation, introduces the era of Neo-Confucianism, investigates the practices of jing and gewu, examines the Zhu Xi approach, applies Confucian and Neo-Confucian concepts specifically to the art and practice of wushu, and scrutinizes the traditional aspects of wushu as understood and practiced by Chinese grandmasters. Included is a description of the state of enlightenment that suggests this level of consciousness--guantong--is identical to integral consciousness and is urgently needed in today’s increasingly complex, interconnected environments.

Learning of the Way (Daoxue) is a comprehensive guidebook that examines and teaches Westerners about traditional Chinese arts and practices.

About the author

John E. Young, Ph.D. is professor emeritus at the Anderson School of Management at the University of New Mexico, where he taught entrepreneurship and strategic management based on Sun Tzu’s Art of War. He practices and teaches taijiquan, Shaolin, chaquan, tan tui, and external kungfu in Albuquerque, New Mexico.