Great Learning, The. Chinese classic that much and for long influenced the Neo-Confucian revival, especially after Chu Hsi in the 12th c. included it among the four great classics, along with The Analects, The Book of Mencius, and The Doctrine of the Mean. All four formed the basis of the famous civil service examinations in China that were used from the early 14th c. till 1915. The Great Learning teaches that the basis for all good political order is to be found in the cultivation of personal morality. It celebrates the concept of respect for elders and service to the state and inculcates a disposition of love for all people, however humble. It insists upon the pursuit of knowledge as essential to moral development and so to political stability and the peace of the world.

Geddes MacGregor, Dictionary of Religion and Philosophy, New York: Paragon House, 1989