Thermodynamic properties of the phases in the MgO–Al2O3–SiO2 system were assessed, resulting in a set of self-consistent thermodynamic data. The two ternary compounds, cordierite and sapphirine, were optimized from subsolidus reactions. The liquid phase was described by the ionic two-sublattice model with a new species AlO2−1, yielding the formula (Al+3,Mg+2)P(AlO2−1,O−2,SiO4−4,SiO20)Q. Projection of the liquidus surface was calculated. Various isothermal and isoplethal sections were compared with the experimental data.