Four Books Chapters and Sentences

Author: Guangling Shushe Editorial
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2002-01-01
Features: The Four Books with Explanations includes Great Learning with Explanations, Doctrine of the Mean with Explanations, The Analects, and Mencius, forming four parts together with the Five Classics (Book of Songs, Book of Documents, Book of Changes, Book of Rites, and Spring and Autumn Annals) as Confucian classics. In ancient school education, they held an absolute monopoly. Before the Song Dynasty, the Five Classics were established in schools, and Tang Yingda's Commentary on the Five Classics was the officially recognized annotation of the classics. During the Song Dynasty, both Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi revered The Great Learning. Cheng Yi held it as the "door to virtue for beginners," while Zhu Xi revered The Doctrine of the Mean as the "heart method of Confucian transmission," thus elevating the Great Learning, Doctrine of the Mean, Analects, and Mencius to the status of classics, for which he wrote annotations, placing them on par with the Five Classics. Annotations of the Four Books have long been regarded as the most authoritative and have become an unshakable model for later generations. This was because Zhu Xi inherited and greatly developed Confucian thought, taking it to a new stage—known as Lixue (Neo-Confucianism), which became a milestone in the history of Chinese thought. From the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties to feudal rulers, they revered Lixue, making Zhu Xi's Collected Annotations on the Four Books a mandatory reading for imperial examinations.
Zhu Xi (1130–1200) was a Southern Song Dynasty scholar and Confucian philosopher. His courtesy name was Huizhi, also known as Zhonghui, styled Huian, also called Huweng, and known by the sobriquet Ziyang. He was from Wuyuan, Huizhou (now Wuyuan, Jiangxi), and resided in Jianyang. He served under the four reigns of emperors Gaozong, Xiaozong, Guangzong, and Ningzong, holding prominent official positions. His studies were influenced by the teachings of the Cheng brothers, and he was renowned alongside Zhang Shi and Lü Zuxian as the "Three Sages of Southeast." Possessing profound knowledge, he annotated numerous classical texts and was regarded as a master of Confucianism.
The edition of Four Books with Explanations published by our press is based on the Collected Annotations on the Four Books in the Wu County Wu Family's imitation Song Dynasty typeface. Minor adjustments were made to the original format while retaining Zhu Xi's prefaces and introductory guides, removing annotations within the text to ensure a cohesive flow. Additionally, all variant and ancient characters in the original manuscript have been preserved, with only a few typographical errors corrected.