At first, he read Confucian works. In many official documents he later submitted to the court of Shu and Han Dynasties, Zhuge Liang often quoted various classic works of Confucianism, such as Poetry, Book, Book of Rites and Spring and Autumn Annals. He also reads books by military strategists. In his later military works, many viewpoints were transformed from Sun Tzu's Art of War and Sun Bin's Art of War. It evolved after studying the military works of predecessors. Zhuge Liang also read Taoist books. His famous saying "Not indifferent, not quiet, not far away" is his own experience after reading Laozi's works. Zhuge Liang also read many historical works, and in his later discussions, he quoted many historical knowledge from Historical Records, Zuo Zhuan and Warring States Policy. Of course, not all these books are.

Unlike most people at that time, Zhuge Liang did not stick to one chapter and one sentence, but focused on the overall situation and liked to recite the ancient ballad Song of Fu Liang. Through painstaking research, he is not only familiar with astronomical geography, but also proficient in tactical art of war. He is ambitious and takes the world as his responsibility.

Two aspects analysis.

1: If the Romance of the Three Kingdoms describes that he has five unique skills and can play eight diagrams, then he must have read it, because the skill of eight diagrams comes from the "paradox" of the art of war in The Book of Changes and the theory that both yin and yang are empty.

2. However, as recorded in Chen Shou's "Three Kingdoms", Kongming was only an outstanding politician, who only played the role of "logistics" in the war, and did not personally direct the war and handle internal affairs and foreign affairs, so it is not known whether he had read the Book of Changes.