General Preface to the Complete Works of Zhu Xi:
In modern times, Zhu Xi's scholarship is considered the most profound, and his writings the most comprehensive. His collected commentaries on the Four Books and the foundational meanings of the Book of Changes and the Book of Poetry have been widely distributed and studied in schools. In addition to these, his works on the Taiji Diagram, the Book of Rites, and other subjects have also been circulating in the world for quite some time.
However, his "Collected Sayings" (語類), recorded by his disciples, contain some errors and duplications, and his "Collected Works" (文集) include various writings from correspondence to official documents, which can be overwhelming for readers. The purpose of this "Complete Works" is to extract the essence of these two books and present them in an organized manner for the convenience of learners. Although not every detail is recorded, the main ideas are adequately represented.
In the "Collected Sayings" (語類) and the "Comprehensive Collection on Human Nature and Principle" (性理大全), the chapters are often arranged in a confusing order, which can mislead the reader. In this edition, the chapters are arranged more logically, starting with discussions on learning, followed by the Four Books and the Six Classics, and finally, topics on human nature, morality, cosmology, yin and yang, and spirits.
The arrangement of chapters in the original works was sometimes inappropriate. For example, sections on laws were placed before discussions on celestial movements and constellations, and topics on weather phenomena were mixed with astronomy. In this edition, these issues have been corrected by reorganizing the chapters according to their proper order and context.
Zhu Xi's teachings were primarily aimed at instructing his disciples. In this edition, the section on instructing disciples retains only the most essential and intimate advice, while repetitive and redundant parts have been removed.
Zhu Xi devoted his life to the study and interpretation of the classics and the teachings of his predecessors, such as Zhou Dunyi, Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi, and Zhang Zai. His achievements in these areas are truly significant. However, his writings on epitaphs and memorials were often composed in response to requests and are not as profound as his discussions on the classics. Therefore, this edition emphasizes his scholarly works while abridging other writings.
Zhu Xi's discussions on historical figures are often brief, while his commentaries on Song Dynasty figures are overly detailed. In this edition, the coverage of historical figures has been adjusted for better balance.
Previous editions of Zhu Xi's works contained numerous errors. In this edition, multiple sources have been collated and compared to correct these mistakes. In cases where the original text is unclear or the meaning is uncertain, the context has been used to guide corrections and adjustments.