Three Connotations of the Word"the Great Learning"in the Book of Rites
The different understanding of the word"the great learning"is one of the reasons for the different interpretations of the Great Learning.The meaning of the word"the great learning"should be traced back to the Book of Rites.In the Book of Rites,"the great learning"had three meanings:first,as a teaching institution,it was compared to"elementary school",and was an education aimed at promoting goodness and eliminating evil for adult-to-be princes and nobles and talented individuals in the country,focusing on poetry,books,rituals,music,and other contents;Second,as a place for elderly care,it was mainly aimed at the retired political officials with moral character,namely national elders rather than commoners or rural elders.The emperor treated them with courtesy and declared filial piety to the whole society,achieving the goal of national education;The third was the theoretical connotation related to teaching,which included"the way of the great learning","the teaching of the the great learning","the method of the the great learn-ing",and"the etiquette of the the great learning".The chapter of"the great learning"was dedicated to"the way of the great learn-ing".The different meanings of"the great learning"in the Book of Rites were influenced by the cross generational process of its com-pletion,as well as by the author's need to reconstruct social order through the rule of etiquette.These different meanings laid the foun-dation for the interpretation of the term"the great learning"and the text of the Great Learning,and the dispute over interpretation also began at this point.
the great learningthe Book of Ritesteaching institutionselderly care facilitiessemantic connotation
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