greybeard.root

THE ORDER OF READING BOOKS dushu  cidi  讀書次第   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.” 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,” 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 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”? [continues…]