Wang Yangming’s doctrine of the “unity of knowing and acting” (zhi xing heyi
知行合一) can be traced back to Mencius’s theory of “original knowing” (liangzhi
良知). Similarly, Kant discussed the relationship of theory to practice on three
different levels (morality, the law of the state, and international law) in his
article, “On the Common Saying: This May Be True in Theory, But It Does Not
Apply in Practice.” Kant proposed the unity of theory and practice on the level
of morality. So, this article uses Kant’s related concepts of theory and practice to
interpret Wang’s doctrine of the “unity of knowing and acting” with the aim of
clarifying some misinterpretations of it. Thereby, I argue that, although Wang
Yangming put forward the doctrine of “the unity of knowing and acting” at a
different time than his doctrines of “heart-mind is principle” (xin ji li 心即理) and
“the extension of original knowing” (zhi liangzhi 致良知), these three doctrines
are logically interconnected
