Ta Hsueh and Chung Yung are two of the central texts of early Chinese thought, encapsulating Confucian philosophy on the Way of moral cultivation and spiritual attainment. Traditionally held to be the work of two of Confucius's closest disciples, the books were compiled in their present form late in the second or first century BCE and have occupied a central position in educational and political life for almost a thousand years throughout the East Asian cultural sphere. The text focus on the connection between internal self-cultivation and the external realisation of one's moral core in the fulfilment of the practical aims of Confucian life: the observance of ritual, the proper conduct of personal relationships, and the grand enterprise of maintaining order in the state and the world.

American business folklore is awash with the adventures of successful entrepreneurs. Still, most of these stories are about Americans, neglecting important and courageous entrepreneurs from other countries. Made in Korea recounts the story of how Chung Ju Yung rose from poverty to build one of the world's largest and most successful building empires - Hyundai - through a combination of creative thinking, tenacity, timing, political skills, and a business strategy that few competitors ever understood. Chung entered the shipbuilding business with no experience and went on to create the world's largest shipyard. He began making automobiles when foreign experts unanimously predicted he would fail, and he started a global construction company that has built some of today's greatest architectural wonders. He even convinced the International Olympic Committee to select South Korea over Japan as the site for the highly successful 1988 Olympics. Unlike most CEO's of major firms, Chung has always preferred the company of his workers to that of the global executive elite. Hard work, creativity and a capacity to never give up - this is the essence of Chung's life. In each of his ventures, he exhibited a sheer determination to succeed, regardless of the obstacles, and he worked tirelessly to instil this drive in all of his employees. Even today, in the midst of Korea's worst economic crisis in over four decades, Chung's company is busy implementing plans to emerge as an even stronger contender in the world economy. Illustrated with 32 pages of colour photographs not previously seen in the West, including photos of Chung's recent historic visit to North Korea in 1998, Made in Korea takes stock of Chung's entire life, highlighting both his contributions to society and the lessons his work can teach to aspiring entrepreneurs.

The Zhongyong--translated here as Focusing the Familiar--has been regarded as a document of enormous wisdom for more than two millennia and is one of Confucianism's most sacred and seminal texts. It achieved truly canonical preeminence when it became one of the Four Books compiled and annotated by the Southern Song dynasty philosopher Zhu Xi (1130-1200). Within the compass of world literature, the influence of these books (Analects of Confucius, Great Learning, Zhongyong, and Mencius) on the Sinitic world of East Asia has been no less than the Bible and the Qu'ran on Western civilization. With this new translation David Hall and Roger Ames provide a distinctly philosophical interpretation of the Zhongyong, remaining attentive to the semantic and conceptual nuances of the text to account for its central place within classical Chinese literature. They present the text in such a way as to provide Western philosophers and other intellectuals access to a set of interpretations and arguments that offer new insights into issues and concerns common to both Chinese and Western thinkers. In addition to the annotated translation, a glossary of terms gives in concise form important senses of the terms that play a key role in the argument of the Zhongyong. An appendix addresses some of the more technical issues relevant to the understanding of both the history of the text and the history of its English translations. Here the translators introduce readers to the best contemporary textual studies of the Zhongyong and make use of the most recent archaeological discoveries in China to place the work within its own intellectual context.

This study focuses on a single Korean "chaebol", the business conglomerate which dominates the Korean economy. Hyundai, the largest chaebol, is examined in the context of Korean history, ancient and modern, and the Confucian value system that permeates all Korean life.

This Key Concept pivot explores the trajectory of the semantic generation and evolution of two core concepts of ancient Chinese Confucianism, ‘Zhong’ (middle) and ‘Zhongyong’ (golden mean). In the pre-Qin period, Confucius advocated ‘middle line’ and ‘golden mean’ as the highest standards for gentlemanly behaviour and culture. In The Doctrine of the Mean the Confucian classic of the late Warring States Period, ‘middle’ obtained the ontological meaning of ‘great fundamental virtues of the world’, due to the influence of Taoism and Yinyang School. It became not only the norm of human behaviours, but also the law governing the operation of heaven and earth. Since then, idealist Confucian scholars of the Song and Ming dynasties have developed the meaning of ‘middle’ from the perspective of the relationships between heaven and man, a fundamental norm of Confucian ethics.

For the past eight hundred years, the study of Confucian doctrine has been largely dominated by the crucial works known as the "Four Books": the Analects, the Mencius, the Daxue, and the Zhongyong. In their original forms, the Daxue and Zhongyong were two of the more than forty chapters of the larger Li ji (Book of Rites), only gaining prominence thanks to the Song Neo-Confucian scholar Zhu Xi. In this groundbreaking text, Ian Johnston and Wang Ping have translated both of these versions of the Daxue and Zhongyong, one version as chapters of the Li ji that contain the influential commentary and notes of Zheng Xuan and Kong Yingda, and the second after they were reorganized into standalone works and reinterpreted by Zhu Xi. Johnston and Wang also include extensive explanatory and supplemental materials to help contextualize and familiarize readers with these supremely influential works.