Chen Te-hsiu (1178-1235) was an important scholar identified with the Chu Hsi school in thirteenth-century China as well as a highly respected official in his day. His Classic on Governance (Cheng-ching) contains both the theory and practice of Neo-Confucian statecraft thought as applied to local administration. Its detailed discussions of specific problems in contemporary local government represent the paragon of Neo-Confucian practicality. This would have a special relevance to the study of statecraft in late Imperial China because local administration was one of the primary focuses of later statecraft thought.;While the Classic on Governance underscores the practical approach, the corpus of Chen's writings on statecraft reveals an equal emphasis on moralistic and practical aspects. As a transmitter of Chu Hsi's (1130-1200) legacy, Chen Te-hsiu follows the footsteps of Chu Hsi in statecraft and in many other areas. However, his writings as a whole, including the Extended Meaning of the Great Learning, the Classic of the Mind and the Reading Notes give a structured expression to statecraft thought that is not seen in Chu Hsi's works. In this regard, Chen's thought represents the culmination and the coming of age of Neo-Confucian statecraft.;The major themes in the Classic on Governance include discussions on local schools, a code of official conduct, tax collection, litigation, the administration of justice and charitable granaries. The dissertation includes an annotated translation of the Classic on Governance.
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