Li Chi (‘Record of Rites’), Chinese Confucian treatise, one of the three classics of li (rites, rules of proper conduct). For Confucian ethics, the treatise is important for its focus on the reasoned justification of li, the role of virtues in human relationships, and the connection between personal cultivation and the significance of the rites of mourning and sacrifices. Perhaps even more important, the Li Chi contains two of the basic Four Books of Confucian ethics: The Great Learning (Ta Hsüeh) and The Doctrine of the Mean (Chung Yung). It also contains a brief essay on learning that stresses its interaction with ethical teaching. See also CONFUCIANIS. A.S.C.