Rodney L. Taylor

The Cultivation of Sagehood as a Religious Goal in Neo-Confucianism: A Study of Selected Writings of Kao P'an-lung, 1562-1626

This study comes with a double agenda. First, it makes available in English translation a modest selection of Kaos writings and introduces them to the reader in the context of his life and work. The cultivation of sagehood in Kaos life guides the selection of materials considered. This descriptive purpose is served well. Kao, for some time the director of the Tung-lin Academy, is clearly no heavy-weight in the Chinese philosophical tradition. Be that as it may, this study places Kao in context, both philosophically and politically. This, together with the short texts translated, provides one more handy and accessible reference point for tracking the transmission and development of the neo-Confucian tradition during the late Ming.