The Unity of Knowledge and ActiIn the field of moral education, there is a common view that students should be trained to bridge the gap between their knowledge and action, assuming that knowledge precedes action and that knowledge in this case refers...
The Unity of Knowledge and ActiIn the field of moral education, there is a common view that students should be trained to bridge the gap between their knowledge and action, assuming that knowledge precedes action and that knowledge in this case refers to knowledge about moral norms. By examining the validity of these two assumptions, Wang Yang-ming and Chu Hsi reached the conclusion that there is no gap between knowledge and action, though their viewpoints were different from each other. In his doctrine of 'the unity of knowledge and action', Wang Yang-ming offers the view that moral action presupposes knowledge which is equivalent to 'innate knowledge' in the Mencian sense. On the other hand, Chu Hsi's doctrine of 'knowledge preceding action', when interpreted in the light of the idea of 'double-layer structure' which is characteristic of Neo-Confucianist way of thinking, turns out to imply the view that knowledge in its internalized state, that is, the 'unmanifested or primordial mind', naturally manifests itself in moral action. These two views agree on the point that moral education, including the realization of the unity of knowledge and action, consists in the pursuit of sagehood, but, unlike the former, the latter clearly shows that it consists in the cultivation of mind through learning the school subjects.on :Chu Hsi and Wang Yang-ming