The Routledge Companion to Chinese Philosophy (Routledge, 2026), edited by Brook Ziporyn and Stephen C. Walker, includes a chapter by Bin Song titled “Quiet-Sitting Meditation: A Philosophical Practice in the Cheng–Zhu Learning of Pattern-Principle” (Chapter 41, pp. 439–450).

Building on Song’s earlier work on Confucian meditation, the chapter offers a sustained philosophical account of quiet-sitting within the Cheng–Zhu lineage of Song-dynasty Ru learning. It identifies three distinctive Ruist exemplars of quiet-sitting, associated with Cheng Yi, Yang Shi, and Zhu Xi, and clarifies their philosophical structure and practical orientation.

A central contribution is the analysis of Zhu Xi’s understanding of quiet-sitting as unfolding in three stages, examined through their inner dynamics and intellectual lineage. The chapter concludes by engaging recent discussions in the philosophy of meditation, showing how, in the Cheng–Zhu tradition, philosophical inquiry and spiritual practice are inseparable.

Written for both specialists and interested general readers, the chapter presents Confucian meditation as a rigorous philosophical practice that integrates reflection with lived self-cultivation, contributing to contemporary cross-traditional conversations on meditation and philosophy.