Here is a list of key Neo-Confucian philosophical terms, together with our preferred translations (in bold) and other common translations. To see these terms used in context, we suggest doing a search on a given term, in Chinese or in English, on this site’s Translations with Chinese Text page. We periodically discuss one of these terms on this site’s Blog page, and when we do so we will add a link from this table to that discussion.
| Pinyin | Wade-Giles | Traditional
Chinese |
Simplified Chinese (where different) | English translations (our preferred translation is given first, in bold) |
| běn | pen | 本 | inherent, original | |
| běntǐ | pen-t’i | 本體 | 本体 | inherent reality |
| cái | tsai | 才 | endowment | |
| cèyǐn | tse-yin | 惻隱 | alarm and commiseration (one of the four beginnings) | |
| chéng | ch’eng | 誠 | 诚 | sincerity, integrity |
| dào | tao | 道 | Way | |
| dàotǒng | tao-t’ung | 道統 | 道统 | succession of the Way |
| duān | tuan | 端 | beginning (as in four beginnings) | |
| gan | kan | 感 | receptivity | |
| géwù | ko-wu | 格物 | 格物 | getting a handle on things, investigation of things |
| gōng | k’ung | 公 | impartial, public, public minded | |
| jī | chi | 機 | 机 | incipience |
| jìng | ching | 靜 | tranquility, quiesence | |
| jìng | ching | 敬 | reverential attention, reverence, seriousness | |
| lǐ | li | 理 | Pattern, coherence, principle | |
| lǐ | li | 禮 | 礼 | ritual, ritual propriety (as a virtue) |
| li yi fen shu | li i fen shu | 理一分殊 | Pattern is one and its particularizations are many | |
| liángzhī | liang-chih | 良知 | good knowing, pure knowing, innate knowledge of the good | |
| mìng | ming | 命 | decree, mandate, destiny, fate | |
| qì | ch’i | 氣 | 气 | vital stuff, material force, |
| qiongli | ch’iong-li | 窮理 | 穷理 | exhaustively investigate Pattern |
| qìzhi | chi-chih | 氣質 | 气质 | contingent constitution |
| qíng | ch’ing | 情 | emotion, feeling | |
| rén | jen | 仁 | humaneness, benevolence | |
| shen | shen | 神 | spirit | |
| shēngshēng | sheng-sheng | 生生 | life-giving generativity | |
| shí | shih | 實 | 实 | substantial |
| sī | ssu | 私 | selfish, self-centered, private, personal | |
| tàihé | t’ai-ho | 太和 | supreme harmony | |
| tàixu | t’ai-hsu | 太虛 | supreme void | |
| tàijí | t’ai-chi | 太極 | 太极 | supreme pivot, Supreme polarity, Great Ultimate, Supreme Ultimate |
| tǐ | t’i | 體 | 体 | inherent reality (because short for benti), substance, body, fundamental state, essence |
| tiān | t’ien | 天 | cosmos, Heaven | |
| tiānlǐ | t’ien-li | 天理 | cosmic Pattern, Heavenly Pattern, Heavenly Principle, Universal Coherence | |
| tiānmìng | t’ien-ming | 天命 | cosmic decree, Heaven’s decree, mandate of Heaven, destiny, fate | |
| wèifā | wei-fa | 未發 | 未发 | not yet manifest |
| e | o | 惡 | bad, evil | |
| xīn | hsin | 心 | heartmind, heart, mind | |
| xìn | hsin | 信 | trustworthiness | |
| xìng | hsing | 性 | nature | |
| xíng er shang | hsing-er-shang | 形而上 | formless, above form | |
| xing er xia | hsing-er-hsia | 形而下 | within form | |
| xu | hsü | 虛 | tenuous | |
| yì | i | 義 | 义 | righteousness, appropriateness |
| yǐfā | i-fa | 已發 | 已发 | already manifest(ed) |
| yòng | yung | 用 | function, functional process, application | |
| zhī | chih | 知 | knowing | |
| zhì | chih | 智 | wisdom |