I once said: There are three ways to read, namely, the heart, the eyes, and the mouth.

1. Original text

Yu Chang said that there are three ways to read, namely, the heart, the eyes, and the mouth. If the mind is not here, the eyes will not look carefully. The mind will not be focused, but will only read rambles. It will never be memorized, and it will not be memorized for a long time. Among the three arrivals, I feel the most anxious. Now that the heart is there, won’t the eyes and mouth not care?

2. Translation

I once said: There are three ways to read, namely, the heart, the eyes, and the mouth. If the mind is not on the book, then the eyes will not read carefully. Since the mind and eyes are not concentrating, but just read casually, they will definitely not be able to remember it, and even if they can remember it, they will not last long. Among the three, the heart is the most important. Now that the heart has arrived, how can it be that the eyes and mouth are not there?

3. Source

"Three Essentials for Reading" by Zhu Xi of the Song Dynasty

Extended information:

Zhu Xi said: "The method of reading , There is no value in being perfect by following the rules. "Step-by-step means: there must be a sequence of reading, read one book, and then read the next. When reading a book, you need to read it word by word, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, in order. If you don’t understand what you read first, you can’t read what follows.

He believes that some people have little success in studying because they don’t put enough effort into the words "cooked" and "skilled". He also criticized the tendency to read too much, saying repeatedly, "Don't be greedy for reading too much, and you must be proficient in reading. If you can read one board today, read half of it, use that energy to read the first half of the board."