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The core argument of Chengyang Li’s new book is that harmony—understood in particular through the categories of “deep harmony” and “creative tension”—is the central idea of classical Confucianism. Part I contains five chapters that collectively explore the “philosophical concept” of harmony; the five chapters in Part II examine “harmony in practice” by looking at the ways that harmony structures Confucian thinking about person, family, society, world, and cosmos. The Confucian Philosophy of Harmony is a learned work, drawing on Li’s familiarity with a broader corpus of early Confucian texts than is often found in works on Confucian philosophy. I believe …

The core argument of Chengyang Li’s new book is that harmony—understood in particular through the categories of “deep harmony” and “creative tension”—is the central idea of classical Confucianism. Part I contains five chapters that collectively explore the “philosophical concept” of harmony; the five chapters in Part II examine “harmony in practice” by looking at the ways that harmony structures Confucian thinking about person, family, society, world, and cosmos. The Confucian Philosophy of Harmony is a learned work, drawing on Li’s familiarity with a broader corpus of early Confucian texts than is often found in works on Confucian philosophy. I believe …