Unity Principles

The Unity of Knowledge and Action (Wang Yangming):

Knowledge is the beginning of action, and action is the completion of knowledge.

The Unity of Goodness and Wisdom (after Plato):

Goodness is the beginning of wisdom, and wisdom is the fulfillment of goodness.

The Unity of Truth and Beauty (after Plato and Keats):

Truth is the beginning of beauty, and beauty is the fulfillment of truth.

From the poem, Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats

“Beauty is truth, truth beauty – that is all

Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”

The Unity of Faithfulness and Justice (after Cicero, from On Duties):

Faithfulness is the beginning of justice, and justice is the completion of faithfulness.

This shows how a Confucian idea, the Unity of Knowledge and Action, can give us a new view of Western ideas.  This is the truest form of multi-culturalism, where one culture learns from another in a blending and transformational manner.

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