Book Review: The Religious Thought of Chu Hsi

Julia Ching\u27s Religious Thought of Chu Hsi is one of several Western-language works in recent years to address issues of religiosity and spirituality in the Confucian tradition. Somewhat earlier are several full-length books devoted to the thought of one particular thinker, much of which could be considered religious, although the authors do not necessarily focus on that theme. Zhu Xi\u27s religious beliefs and practices have been the subject of several chapter-length studies in Western languages. And Zhu\u27s studies of ritual have been translated in Patricia Buckley Ebrey\u27s Chu Hsi\u27s Family Rituals. Neither of those works, however, approaches their subject from the perspective of the history of religions. [excerpt