Zhu Xi’s Language: Reading Method (Excerpt) Zhu Xi
Reading is the second thing for scholars. Reading is the second meaning. The principles of life are comprehensive, so those who want to read must have never experienced many things. A saint has experienced and seen a lot, so he writes it down in a book for others to see. Nowadays, reading is just to see many truths. If you understand it, it is all the result of your own efforts and cannot be obtained from the outside.
Knowledge, after studying oneself, must deal with everything, and reading is the second meaning. I have all the principles within me, and I can never get them from outside. However, the sage teaches people that when they read this book, they must experience the truth that it is their own possession. The sage said that he had experienced it before. Knowledge is neither wise nor foolish, big or small, noble or low, it is a matter of human rationality. And if there are no saints, many books, and many inventions, you can't ignore them! Just ignore it. Today there are sages and sages who speak and write many words, but they do not practice them. Teachers and friends just invented it. If a person does not move forward on his own, how can teachers and friends be effective! As for the way of learning, sages and sages teach people very clearly. Most scholars must study thoroughly when studying. "Tao Wen Xue" is a big deal. You must know the truth and be a good person. When reading a book, you must read it again and again, understand it paragraph by paragraph, direction by direction, and word by word, and still refer to the explanations and explanations. The teachings must be thorough, and the principles can be reconciled with your own heart. When reading, you must make sure that your own principles are thorough and coherent. Du Yuankai said: "If you are good and gentle, you will seek it; if you are tired of it, you will seek it. If you are soaked in the river and the sea, the ointment will be moistened, and it will be smooth and smooth, and then you will get it." Today's reading is important. , it depends on how the sage teaches people how to do Kung Fu. If you use medicine to treat a disease, you must look at how the disease occurs and what prescription should be used to treat it; what medicinal materials should be used in the prescription, how many taels, how many parts, how to fry, how to roast, how to prepare, how to cut, how to fry, and how to eat. That's all. Read to observe the meaning of the sages; read the meaning of the sages to observe the principles of nature. Read the saint's writings well, and you will see that his meaning is similar to that of speaking in person. The words of sages must always be reflected in the eyes, spoken, and carried in the heart. When you open the book, there are differences between you and the sages. How can you not encourage yourself! The words of the sage are repeated one after another and must be looked at deeply. If you only have skin, there will be mistakes, and you must be deep to gain anything. When people look at words, they only look at the first level, let alone the second level. When reading, you must look at his cracks to find out the truth. If there is no crack, there is no way to get in. When you see the seams, the veins will open by themselves. The big text program is painful to deal with three or five points, and it will be solved later. Scholars suffer from frivolity and lack of composure.
When a scholar first looks at the text, he only sees a blur of things. Only if you look at three or two pieces for a long time, or even ten pieces, will you make progress. Just like a cook trying to understand an ox, he cannot see the whole ox, that's right. When reading, one must study the truth thoroughly. Just like human food, it can only be swallowed after chewing it thoroughly, and then it can be replenished. When reading a text, you must read it word by word and get nowhere. For example, if the front and back doors are blocked, and you can't even get out, then it will be right. The door is closed, the household is closed, and the four ends of the handle are cut off. This is when I am studying. Scholars only know how to read books, but they don't know that there are four sides before they can have any meaning.
When a scholar reads, he must think about it in a boring place. As for the group of people who are suspicious and excited, and the sleeping and eating utensils are useless, they can advance suddenly. Because the word "sudden advance" is the best, it must be like this. If you get some seeds, they may advance or retreat, if they survive or die, it will not help. It would be of no use to use troops to kill each other and win a small area of ??one or twenty miles. You have to kill a lot before you can win. The same is true for the purpose of learning. When reading the text, you must read it in large paragraphs. Keep your spirits up, your muscles and bones upright, don't be sleepy, as if there is a sword behind you! Just one paragraph needs to be understood. If you hit the head, the tail will respond, if you hit the tail, the head will respond, and then it will be. Don't press the booklet and then forget it; cover the booklet and forget it; read the notes and forget the text; read the text and forget the notes. This section must be thoroughly understood before you can read the back panel and the text. You must get inside and roll around hard. Only by being thorough can we escape. If you only look at it briefly, you may not be able to escape in the end, and you won't be able to let it go.
People say that when reading, you should take your time and ponder it. This is a kind of self-loathing. If you don't understand the truth after reading this book, you can do it even though you shouldn't rush it and don't give it up. If you wander around all day long, it is said to be calm, but there is no place to work hard. For example, the decoction must be boiled over high fire and then raised over slow fire, but it doesn't matter.
It must be a stick and a mark! A slap brings blood! If you look at people’s words, you should treat them like this, how can you ignore them!
Looking at the text, it must be like a fierce general using his troops, a fierce battle, like a cruel official in prison, just deducing to the end, and never forgiving him before he can win. Looking at the text, it is just like the usage of cruel officials, which is profound and unkind, and they will do it to the end. If you only read it casually, what a taste it would be! Generally speaking, if there is something unclear about the text, you have to work hard. As long as you see that the truth is your own, you can live there. Reading text is like catching a thief, you must know where the thief is, and you will be able to find out the plot of stealing from one article or more. If we only give an outline, even if we know that this person is a thief, we will not know where he is a thief. When reading words, you should be like a tall boat, sailing in the wind, traveling thousands of miles in a day to achieve success. Now that I have just left Xiaogang, I have caught a shallow wound, which will help me a lot! The text doesn't make sense, so look at it this way. When reading to understand principles, one must open one's mind, be open-minded and clear-minded, and follow the ground. The first is irresponsible. Only when it is responsible for the effect does it have the meaning of sadness. Despite this, a piece of cake is gathering in my chest. Let's put aside other things for now and don't think too much. If you only concentrate on studying the principles, you will be attentive to them; if your mind is attentive, you will be familiar with them. Read, relax your mind, and the truth will come out. If the sorrow is urgent, the truth will never come out. To study, you must know the penetration point. Only by touching this key point in the east and west can you get it. Just keep your head down and do it. Don't think about it before and after it. Now, it is idle talk to say that I have never done it before, that I am afraid of being late, afraid of not being able to do it in time, afraid of the difficulty, afraid of being dull, and afraid of not being able to remember. Just keep your head down and do it, don't worry about the speed, you will get there in a little time. Since we have never done this before, we will work hard to make up for it now. Don't look forward and backward, thinking about things. If you waste a lifetime in a short time, you won't know how old you are!
[Note] The second thing: According to the author's thinking, the first important thing is to practice it. Together: now, at the beginning, originally. Yuan: Same as "original". Bottom: particle, same as "的". Together: Should. Dao Wenxue: Opposite to respecting virtue, it refers to seeking Tao through reading and learning knowledge. Ken: Here it means being closely together.惃(jiā) 合: To understand and comprehend. Du Yuankai (222-284): Du Yu, a minister of the Western Jin Dynasty and a famous scholar, named Yuankai, was born in Duling, Jingzhao (southeast of Xi'an, Shaanxi today). His "Collected Commentary of Zuo's Classics in the Spring and Autumn Period" is the annotated version of "Zuo's Classics" that is popular in later generations. Excellent and soft: leisurely and contented. Yù (yù): both mean fullness. Pao (páo): Processing, using roasting and frying methods to refine Chinese medicine into high-quality products, or to remove toxicity. Because: According to, according to. Future: Bring it.鈥 (xià): gap. Program: Outline. pharynx (yàn): same as "pharynx". Xiaoke: Simple and ordinary. Back panel: next page. Wandering: the original meaning is wandering, here it means being at ease.恁(rèn)idi: So. Easy: easy, casual. Ibis (é), Biàn (biàn): both are big ships. Guan捩子: key, mechanism. idle talk: irrelevant words.
(Shi Zhonglian)
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[Appreciation] "Zhu Xi Yu Lei" is a classified collection of Zhu Xi's lecture quotations, covering philosophy, politics, economics, and history. , law, literature, education, natural science and other fields, divided into twenty-six subjects, with a total of one hundred and forty volumes. "Reading Methods 1" is selected from "Study Four" in Volume 10 of this book. Most of the quotations in this article consist of more than a dozen words or a few paragraphs. They were originally recorded by different disciples at different times and on different occasions. In order to make the arrangement more compact, the editor deleted the names of the disciples who recorded the words and put the multiple quotations in the order of the original text. Place within a paragraph.
Zhu Xi was an outstanding philosopher, knowledgeable scholar and outstanding educator in the Southern Song Dynasty. He had always been deeply interested in all useful knowledge and studied knowledge tirelessly throughout his life until the last moment of his life. Therefore, he accumulated a lot of valuable experience in reading methods, many of which were obtained after long and arduous exploration and thinking, and are a summary of his academic research. Because he is a profound thinker and a persuasive educator, his insights and descriptions of reading methods are both profound and vivid, especially the many metaphors he uses, which not only make the conversation extremely lively and interesting, but also make the conversation lively and interesting. The method of reading is described in a penetrating and vivid way, making the listeners or readers who are inspired by him feel like they are drunk, suddenly awakened, deeply inspired, and instructive.
Zhu Xi used the analogy of war to say that if you make a little progress in studying, you may advance or retreat, survive or die, which is of no use. Just like fighting a war, occupying a mere ten or twenty miles will not have any effect, and it must be painful. Only by having a hearty battle and advancing in depth can we achieve real victory. He criticized some people who only saw the surface of the text and were unable to go deep into it and grasp its core meaning. He believed that the words of the saints had layer after layer of meaning, and one must go deep to understand their profound meaning.
Seventh, when reading, we must strive to achieve a comprehensive understanding. In his own words, it is "In a paragraph, you need to understand it. If you hit the beginning, you will respond to the end, and if you hit the end, you will respond to the beginning. ". Zhu Xi was a master at interpreting Confucian classics and developing their principles, so he was able to express his personal experience in such wonderful language.
Eighth, don’t be eager for quick success or quick results in reading. He required that when reading, one must be open-minded, open-minded, and clear-minded. If you must achieve immediate results, if you fail to achieve your goal, you will feel sad. It will always be like this, and it will be like a piece of cake stuffed in your chest that cannot be digested. He advocated that you should not meddle in other people's business for the time being, and don't have random thoughts. Just concentrate on understanding the principles and principles, and you will become proficient in the theories and ideas.
In short, fundamentally speaking, Zhu Xi believes that reading, like doing anything, must be serious and hard-working, always maintain a brave and energetic mental state, and have a huge spiritual power. He said that you should "stretch your spirit, stand up your muscles, and don't be sleepy, as if you have a sword behind you!" Zhu Xi emphasized this idea in various ways on many occasions. As he said, reading "must be a mark with a stick! A slap with blood"! He also said, "Looking at the text, it must be like a fierce general using troops, fighting for a while, like a ruthless official in prison, just probing to the end, but never forgiving him... Just like a ruthless official's usage is profound, unkind, and will go to the end. ... …Reading words is like catching a thief, you must know where the thief is, and you can find out the circumstances of the crime from one article or more.” It is certain that with this kind of spirit, any difficulties in reading and learning can be solved one by one, and after a period of time, academic progress will be made.