THE ORDER OF READING BOOKS
THE ORDER OF
READING BOOKS
dushu cidi 《讀書次第》
Pupil Chen Chun here explains the order of reading the Four Books, which follows Master Zhu’s own rationale. Following his essay, I have also included his teacher’s concise comment on the topic as recorded in his Collected Conversations.
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Books are vehicles of the Way. Of course they must be read. However, the teachings the sages and worthies have bestowed on us are not the same. They also have an order as to which should come first and which later as well as a degree of urgency, and one must not skip steps. Master Cheng said, “The Great Learning is an inherited work of the Confucian School and is the gate through which the beginning student enters into virtue. It is only due to the preservation of this work that the order in which the ancients pursued their learning may be seen at this time. The Analects and the Book of Mengzi are next to it. The student should by all means follow this work in his effort to learn, and then he will probably be free from mistakes.”¹
For the Great Learning is the way by which the adults of ancient times learned to be great. Its main points are three: namely, “manifesting the clear character, renewing the people, and abiding in the highest good,”² and that is all. Within these three, there are further divisions into eight items, namely the investigation of things, extension of knowledge, sincerity of the will, rectification of the mind, cultivation of the person, and so on to the regulation of the family and bringing peace to the world. Generally speaking, the pattern is broad and vast without leaving out the essential and subsidiary, and the items are detailed and clear without confusing the beginning and end. It is really the outline of the Classics which the student should understand clearly first of all.
The next is the Discourses (“Analects”) in twenty parts. It is the collection of important words and deeds of our Sacred Teacher. By studying this, the student will know the concrete ways of holding onto and preserving one’s good nature as well as nourishing it. The rest is the Book of Mengzi in seven parts. They all consist of earnest discussion on the kingly way and humanity and righteousness. By studying it, the student will know where to start in personally realizing one’s nature and enriching it.
As to the Doctrine of the Mean, it represents the law of the mind according to which the doctrines of the Confucian School have been transmitted. Master Cheng considered its meaning and interest to be inexhaustible. If the reader skillfully ponders over it and finds something in it, he can apply it to himself all his life. However, its sayings generally deal more with things on the higher level and comparatively less with things on the lower level. The beginning student should not suddenly talk about things on the higher level, but must have understood the Great Learning, the Analects, and the Book of Mengzi before he can deal with this Classic. He will then get to know definitely and indubitably that what the book teaches is all concrete learning.
For unless one first studies the Great Learning, there will be no way to delineate the outline and to discuss thoroughly the refinement and subtlety of the Analects and the Book of Mencius. Unless one consults the Analects and the Book of Mencius, there is no way to explore the secret and ultimately to reach the final goal of the Doctrine of the Mean. If one does not bring about the convergence of all the ultimate teachings of the three Classics in the Doctrine of the Mean, how can one “establish the great foundation of the world and order and adjust the great relations of mankind”?³ This being the case, those who want to seek the Way must surely make haste to read the Four Books. The way to read them is not to ask for too much, nor to be crafty and bore into the words, nor to search for unimportant materials elsewhere, nor to twist their meanings in quoting from them. One must calmly ponder over their meanings and objectives and examine their practical application in direct and intimate relation to the self.
When one can really penetrate and synthesize the Four Books so that the moral principles are brilliant and clear and one’s mental state is genial, one will then have a perspective and judgment. If one proceeds from this to go into the various Classics, to read books in the world, and to discuss affairs of the world, everything will be clear to him. The amount or degree of things will be absolutely certain, and naturally there will no longer be the slightest mistake. Alas, only when one arrives at this point can one be qualified to discuss the way of sageliness within and kingliness without, and to perform the function of opening up resources and accomplishing great undertakings.
– Chen Chun 陳淳,⁴ Lecture at Yan Ling Academy, 1217 AD, tr. Chan⁵
書所以載道，固不可以不讀，而聖賢所以垂訓者不一，又自有先後緩急之序，而不容以躐進。程子曰：大學，孔氏之遺書，而初學入德之門也。於今可見古人為學次第者，獨賴此篇之存，而論孟次之。學者必由是而學焉，則庶乎其不差矣。蓋大學者，古之大人所以為學之法也，其大要惟曰「明明德」，曰「新民」，曰「止於至善」三者而已。於三者之中，又分而為格物、致知、誠意、正心、修身以至於齊家、治國、平天下者，凡八條。大抵規模廣大而本末不遺，節目詳明而始終不紊，實群經之綱領，而學者所當最先講明者也。其次，則論語二十篇，皆聖師言行之要所萃，於是而學焉，則有以識操存涵養之實。又其次，則孟子七篇，皆諄諄乎王道仁義之談，於是而學焉，則有以為體驗充廣之端。至於中庸一書，則聖門傳授心法，程子以為其味無窮，善讀者味此而有得焉，則終身用之有不能盡者矣。然其為言，大概上達之意多，而下學之意少，非初學者所可驟語。又必大學、論、孟之既通，然後可以及乎此，而始有以的知其皆為實學，無所疑也。蓋不先諸大學，則無以提潔綱領，而盡論孟之精微；不參諸論孟，則無以發揮蘊奧，而極中庸之歸趣；若不會其極於中庸，則又何以建立天下之大本，而經綸天下之大經哉？是則欲求道者，誠不可不急於讀四書。而讀四書之法，毋過求，毋巧鑿，毋旁搜，毋曲引，亦惟平心以玩其旨歸，而切已以察其實用而已爾。果能於是四者融會貫通，而理義昭明，胸襟灑落，則在我有權衡尺度。由是而進諸經，與凡讀天下之書，論天下之事，皆莫不冰融凍釋，而輕重長短截然一定，自不復有錙銖分寸之或紊矣。嗚呼！至是而後可與言內聖外王之道，而致開物成務之功用也歟！
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Zhu Xi’s own comment on the Four Books…
I want people first of all to read the Great Learning to set a pattern, next to read the Discourses to establish a foundation, next to read the Book of Mengzi for stimulation, and next to read the Doctrine of the Mean to find out the subtle points of the ancients. The Great Learning contains definite steps and a regular order. It is a coherent treatise and is easy to understand. It is true that we should first read the Analects, but its ideas are scattered and it is difficult to read at first. The Book of Mencius can stimulate and arouse the reader’s mind. The Doctrine of the Mean is difficult. One should read it after having read the three other books.
– Zhu Xi, Collected Conversations 14:1:3, tr. Chan
某要人先讀大學，以定其規模；次讀論語，以立其根本；次讀孟子，以觀其發越；次讀中庸，以求古人之微妙處。大學一篇有等級次第，總作一處，易曉，宜先看。論語卻實，但言語散見，初看亦難。孟子有感激興發人心處。中庸亦難讀，看三書後，方宜讀之。