Four Books

Four Books Organization is a project for the creation of a public-use online translation of the Four Books with Collected Commentaries 四書章句集注 (the Great Learning, the Analects, the Mengzi, and the Doctrine of the Mean) which have never before been translated into English.

The History of the Four Books

The “Four Books” was conceived by the sage of education and diligent scholar of the ancient classics, Zhu Xi 朱熹, who selected these texts, crafted a systematic curriculum, wrote or selected from existing commentaries, and then published them as a collection in 1190 during the Song Dynasty. This curriculum in time replaced the “Five Classics” as the central focus of education, and became the standard way Chinese have studied the Confucian classics for over six hundred years. It also became the standard interpretation of these classics which learners were tested on by the prestigious civil service examinations.

The scholars of the Song Dynasty referred to their intellectual occupation as “Way Studies” (Daoxue 道學). This term was first used by the renowned Cheng brothers and Zhang Zai in the 11th century, and later by Zhu Xi who completed this project in the 12th century. The “Ways” they studied were of course those written down by the Zhou Dynasty sages, whom we might rightly call “Wayists” (daozhe 道者) rather than the English term “philosophers.”

During this lively intellectual era, the Chinese studied themselves. They embarked on an introspective exploration of their own philosophies, revisiting the thoughts of the chaotic “Warring States” period. For the first time, from a distant temporal position that allowed perspective, those thoughts could be examined and synthesized into a complete system encompassing Confucianism (rujia 儒家), Daoism (daojiao 道教), and the new influential movement of Zen Buddhism (chanzong 禪宗).

As for this daoxue movement, the roots can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty with the famous writer Han Yu 韓愈 (born 768), who advocated a return to the clear and direct writing style of the ancient sages, forsaking the overly embellished popular style of the time. This gave rise to the “classical prose movement” (guwen yundong 古文運動), a tradition that Song Dynasty scholars continued in their commentaries on the classics. The daoxue movement then gained momentum in the Song Dynasty with Zhou Dunyi 周敦頤 (1017), Zhang Zai 張載 (1020), Cheng Hao 程顥 (1032), and Cheng Yi 程颐 (1033). Born quite later was Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130), who was positioned to view all that had transpired with perspective.

Zhu Xi's life mission became to transmit the classics of the Way to Chinese society. His journey began at the age of 5, studying the classics under his father's guidance, and by the impressive age of 19, he had passed the state examination. In his 20s, he explored Buddhism, and throughout his 30s and 40s, he dedicated himself to the study of the Confucian Classics, publishing 20 works and engaging with the renowned thinkers of his era. During his 50s and 60s, Zhu Xi distilled these classics into a manageable curriculum of four books, releasing ever-improving editions with carefully selected commentaries. Ultimately his success surpassed even his own goals, with the spread of the classics to Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and Singapore following his passing.

And yet, still no English version exists?

The international success of the Four Books with Collected Commentaries can be attributed to the "universal humanist" style of explanations, written with the revived clear and direct literary style of the ancients (guwen 古文). Zhu Xi, who spent his life studying the ancient classics of Zhou Dynasty, 1600 years later in Song Dynasty, must have understood better than anyone how future people will in turn have difficulty understanding Song Dynasty thoughts. This no doubt influenced his universal and direct communication style, including meticulous notes on terms and pronunciation. And so remarkably, translating these 800-year-old Song Dynasty commentaries into 21st-century English works fine, requiring virtually no explanatory footnotes by the translator.

Yet strangely, this existing work, with an already proven methodology of teaching the classics, has not been translated into English. Though the traditional collected commentaries are what every translator uses to understand the Four Books, and which inform their own English commentary, they are almost never quoted directly. If the intention is truly to transmit the classics and understand East Asian culture and thought, this approach is quite beyond reason—the traditional commentary has already proven itself unmatched in influence, resonating across vast expanses of time and geography, and is the thing itself which formed and is cultural thought.

Realistically, the intention to prevent native Chinese thought from entering the English-speaking realm, leaving it managed by Anglo-gatekeepers, is why this infectious work has never been translated. As long as commentary stays impenetrable, hidden behind the uninspiring chatter of English academics, and native learning institutions like Confucian Institutes are blocked, Chinese philosophy remains obfuscated. In this way, Western thought is insulated from comparative philosophy that would surely challenge its false and failing assumptions.

Following the Way — That Which Has Proven to Work

As such, these works will be presented here in their original form, as the curriculum which Zhu Xi intended, without editorial comment, translated directly from the Qing Dynasty imperial library edition of the canon. This respects the fact that the influence of the original authors' own commentary has already proven legendary—it seems unlikely that such commentary will be improved upon by our modern additions and subtractions.

For the translation of the original Zhou verses and the Song commentary, they should rightly mirror their respective distinct styles in the source text. Although both are written in "ancient classical" (guwen 古文), the old Zhou verses follow an extreme-minimalist “broken” style, allowing multiple true interpretations, while the Song commentary is written with complete grammar in a noble and elegant style with less possibility of confusion. Since both are to be translated here, there is no need to do the typical “explanation translations” of the ancient texts. Instead, we can simply leave each as its own, letting the Zhou remain cryptic and open, and the Song to narrow down interpretation to a manageable array. That’s how it’s written in Classical Chinese, and thus that's how it's presented here in English.

Due to the text's size and complexity, this project may take a decade to complete, if ever. It has never been completed before, for reasons, and so I assume those will re-manifest. But in such an aspiration as this, I do hope to do my small part to advance humanist philosophy here in the 21st century, the Century of Asia. In order to advance knowledge, we must first develop a mastery of existing foundational knowledge, foundational knowledge that is not restricted to Anglo/Western understanding. In ending, I quote from the introduction to Wing-tsit Chan’s A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy:

The Western philosopher, if he would be a true philosopher in considering all the experiences, insights, and systematic intellectual speculation of mankind as data for his comprehensive philosophical thinking, can no longer remain blind to the important insights of the great Chinese minds of history. The Chinese philosophers have much to contribute in many areas of the broad quest for truth, and it is high time that we in the West overcome our basic ignorance of this field, or at least attempt to correct the limited and possibly distorted interpretations that we now have.

– Sol 솔