Fan Chi asked about wisdom. Master Kong said, “Devote yourself to the duties due to men, and respect spiritual beings while keeping them at a distance. This may be called wisdom.” (Lunyu 6.20) 樊遲問知。子曰：「務民之義，敬鬼神而遠之，可謂知矣。」
Daoxue Academy 道學學堂
@daoxue-academy.bsky.social
Study the Classics | Learn Classical Chinese. We are designers of classical studies apps. Daily posts from our Confucian quote repository.
New feature: “Daily Classic” delivers a real quote from the Confucian Classics by notification at the time you choose. You can also set it to “Chinese First,” our large-character edition, if you would rather use it to practice reading Classical Chinese.
Our public GitHub’s second release is up: the “Collected Conversations of Master Zhu” (朱子語類). The 1.5 million characters of the Qing 1782 manuscript edition, machine punctuated, tagged in English, and free under Creative Commons. github.com/Daoxue-Acade...
GitHub - Daoxue-Academy/Yulei-ST: Collected Conversations of Master Zhu 朱子語類. This is a punctuated, AI-searchable source text (ST) of the Qing 1782 Wenyuange SKQS edition.
Collected Conversations of Master Zhu 朱子語類. This is a punctuated, AI-searchable source text (ST) of the Qing 1782 Wenyuange SKQS edition. - Daoxue-Academy/Yulei-ST
github.com
✽ FOUR BOOKS: CONFUCIAN CLASSICS v1.9 ✽ Our monthly update is now live on the App Store and Google Play. New translated verses and their traditional commentaries, plus a new ”Daily Classic” feature.
It is because one does not seek understanding in his own mind [but merely emulates] that one is in the dark and without achievement. It is because one does not put the affairs into practice [but merely contemplates] that one is unstable and not at peace. (Zhu Xi : Lunyu 2.15)
Our public GitHub is live, and the first release is up: the “Collected Literary Works of Master Zhu” (朱子文集). The 1.8 million characters of the Ming 1532 woodblock edition, machine punctuated, tagged in English, and free under Creative Commons. github.com/Daoxue-Academy/Wenji-ST
GitHub - Daoxue-Academy/Wenji-ST: Collected Literary Works of Master Zhu 朱子文集. This is a punctuated, AI-searchable source text (ST) of the Ming 1532 SBCK edition.
Collected Literary Works of Master Zhu 朱子文集. This is a punctuated, AI-searchable source text (ST) of the Ming 1532 SBCK edition. - Daoxue-Academy/Wenji-ST
github.com
The Four Books for Android is now live on the Google Play Store. With all the talk of “Great Books,” and all the technology now at hand, we really should have proper tools for studying the Classics. The only serious Confucian Classics app in the world. #ConfucianTechnologies
✽ FOUR BOOKS VERSION 1.8 ✽ The monthly update is now live on the App Store and Google Play. This month we took a step back from translating to do our largest coding and feature update since launch.
✽ Four Books for Android ✽ With the new Mythos-class coding models, the time is right to bring the Four Books App to Android. We’ve completed a full 22,000-line code audit of the iOS build and are now rebuilding it as a native Android app. Expected release is August!
“It is better to learn to sit quietly and to read old books at leisure, and rinse the mind of popular and mundane interests.” (Zhu Xi, Wenji ch. 63, tr. Chan) 不如且學静坐，閑讀舊書，滌去世俗塵垢之心。
An introductory essay for Four Books readers: “On the Structure of the Text.” How the ancient verses and medieval commentaries are laid out to form an orderly page architecture, and how our replica reproduces this in English. fourbooks.org/on-structure
On the Structure of the Text
Published in 1190, the Four Books with Collected Commentaries quickly became a classic text across East Asia. To the Western reader, however, the commentarial style of this classic may be unfamiliar.
fourbooks.org
✽ Learn Classical and Middle Chinese ✽ The Four Books App is now updated with literal glosses for all verses completed thus far. This is the equivalent of a “word for word” Analects, Great Learning, etc. Tap any character to see its literal meaning in that context. 先須曉其文義，然後可求其意
Master Kong said, “Yóu! Shall I teach you what knowledge is? When you know a thing, to recognize that you know it, and when you do not know a thing, to recognize that you do not know it. This is knowledge.” (Lunyu 2.17) 子曰：「由！誨女知之乎？知之為知之，不知為不知，是知也。」
Master Kong said, “He who learns but does not think is lost. He who thinks but does not learn is in danger.” (Lunyu 2.15) 子曰：「學而不思則罔，思而不學則殆。」
✽ Four Books Version 1.4 ✽ Our April update adds 15 newly translated verses and their traditional commentaries, completing our Lunyu chapter two selections. Also a new skin we’re calling “Imperial Bronze.”
Here is an example of links in the Four Books. When reading a verse, you can check out the named person... then go deeper to other verses featuring them. Or check out a term... then go deeper to how it is used in other books. Swipe down to escape back to your reading.
Four Books now has interconnecting references throughout the app to check out biographies, explanations of terms, and other verses, without losing your reading place. Also, press and hold, or double tap, to select and copy any text—titles, verse, commentary, and footnotes. (iOS 1.3)
Four Books App v1.2 is now available with new reading from Lunyu Chapter 1 and an improved Classical Chinese Study Mode for line-by-line study. Also note that our iPad version runs perfectly on macOS if you have an Apple Silicon Mac.
When the ruler treats the elderly as the elderly should be treated, the people are aroused to family devotion. When the ruler treats those older as those older should be treated, the people are aroused to brotherly respect. (Daxue ch. 10) 上老老而民興孝，上長長而民興弟。
The Book of Odes says, “That peach tree, so young and lovely! How luxuriant is its foliage! This girl is going to her husband’s house. She will rightly order her household.” Let the household be rightly ordered, and then the people of the state may be taught. (Daxue ch. 9)
The government of the state depends on the regulation of the family. (Daxue ch. 9) 治國在齊其家。
The ruler must have the good qualities in himself and then he may require them in others; he must not have the bad qualities in himself and then he may require that others not have them. (Daxue ch. 9) 君子有諸己而后求諸人，無諸己而后非諸人。
Yao and Shun led all under heaven with humanity, and the people followed them. Jie and Zhou led all under heaven with violence, and the people followed them. When what they ordered contradicted what they themselves liked, the people did not follow. (Daxue ch. 9)
One word may ruin an affair and one person may set the state in order. (Daxue ch. 9) 一言僨事，一人定國。
“The greed and perversity of one person incites disorder in the whole state.” One person refers to the ruler. (Zhu Xi : Daxue ch. 9) 「一人貪戾，一國作亂。」...一人，謂君也。
The humaneness of one family arouses the humanity of the whole state; the courtesy of one family arouses the courtesy of the whole state; the greed and perversity of one person incites disorder in the whole state. Such are the inward springs of activity. (Daxue ch. 9)
“The notes and supplements appended by Zhu Xi to the original text appear in nearly all the editions of the work, which fall into the hands of students, and his view of the classics is what must be regarded as the orthodox one.” – James Legge, Great Learning (1861)
“There has never been a girl who had to learn to care for a child before she marries.” This clarifies that the foundation of establishing education lies not in forced effort, but merely in recognizing its beginnings and extending them. (Zhu Xi : Daxue ch. 9)
If a mother sincerely seeks what the infant wants, though not hitting the mark exactly, she will not be far from it. There has never been a girl who had to learn to care for a child before she marries. (Daxue ch. 9) 心誠求之，雖不中不遠矣。未有學養子而后嫁者也！