An Introduction to the Confucian Religious Life
by Rodney L. Taylor

It is most important simply to realize the degree to which self-cultivation for the Confucian is virtually ever-present as an intention. And it is through the constant attentiveness to self-cultivation that, from the Confucian perspective, the self slowly treads the sagely path. Thus one of the strongest impressions of the religious life in Confucianism is centered around the study, its quietness and its seriousness.

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Originally published in The Way of Heaven: An Introduction to the Confucian Religious Life, Brill, 1986. Excerpt republished here with thanks.