{174} Glossary of Book Titles
This glossary lists the titles of books specifically mentioned in the Journal and Letters. Many of the titles, especially those of the Four Books, are frequently quoted by Wu, but I mention here only the times the title is mentioned. For the most part, I list them in alphabetical order by the English name given in the Journal and Letters, while also including their Chinese name. Those titles that are also included in Works Cited will be done so according to their Chinese name. Books that are quoted by Wu but not mentioned by specific name are not included here, but in Works Cited. The word juan 
is usually translated into English as “fascicle.” Chinese books are divided into these.
Part I of the Glossary will focus on those texts that comprised the Neo-Confucian elementary program of study, presented in the order they are recommended to be read. While Reflections on Things at Hand is not specifically mentioned in the list, I include it here because it did serve as an important anthology of Neo-Confucian thought for students.
I. Basic Texts of the Neo-Confucian Curriculum
Elementary Learning (Xiaoxue 
) in 6 juan―compiled by Zhu Xi with the help of Liu Qingzhi, and published in 1187. In Zhu’s preface, he laments the lack of a text for beginners and hopes this text will remedy the situation. The text collects quotes from classical texts and Northern Song writings that give explicit guidelines for one’s conduct, and present models from Chinese history that have embodied them. A majority of quotes are from the Book of Rites (Liji) and deal with teaching good manners and how to relate in social situations. Its purpose is to mold behavior more than provide philosophical discussions. That is why Wu Yubi insists so strongly that this text be the starting point of a young person’s education. (Letters 12a, 15, “Standards for Learning”)
{175} The Four Books (Sishu 
)—Although these four date from the classical period, they only came to be grouped together in the Song dynasty by Neo-Confucians. Regarded as encompassing all of the fundamental teachings of Confucianism, they constituted the dominant part of the core curriculum. Additionally, they, along with Zhu Xi’s commentaries on them, became the basis of the civil service examinations from 1311 on. Here, they are presented in the order in which it was generally regarded they should be read.
Great Learning (Daxue 
)—a chapter from the Book of Rites that, along with Practicing the Mean, was taken out and published separately as an independent text. Reputed to have been edited by one of Confucius’ students, Zengzi, Zhu Xi rearranged its content. He divided it into two parts: the “Text,” which includes the so-called “Eight Items” (that relate cultivation of the individual person to peace in the cosmic order), and the “Commentary” in nine sections. (Letters 2, 3, 5, 11)
Analects (Lunyu 
)—in twenty chapters, it is our fullest record of the personality and teachings of Confucius (551–479 BCE). It includes a collection of his conversations with students, records of his behavior, and the sayings of some of his students, among other things. Compiled after his death, it is a miscellany of passages with no observable structure. Nevertheless, it is probably the most important single text in pre-modern China, if not all of East Asia, and one of the most frequently quoted in the Journal. (30, 62, 93) (Letters 1, 2, 3, 5)
Mencius (Mengzi 
)―in seven chapters, with each chapter divided into two. It includes the conversations and sayings of Mencius (372–289 BCE), who is regarded as the first main successor of Confucius. He expanded Confucius’ thought in two main areas, namely, providing rulers with much more specific policies to show benevolent government and addressing the deeper dimensions of human nature. Xunzi (c.312–230 BCE) was the other major successor to Confucius’ thought, but Song Neo-Confucians preferred Mencius for his view that human nature was intrinsically good and for his passages on the interiority of the self. (12, 43, 46, 117) (Letters 1, 2, 3)
Practicing the Mean (Zhongyong 
)—in thirty-one sections, thought to have been written by Confucius’ grandson, Zisi. Like the Great Learning, it was originally a chapter of the Book of Rites. {176} It focuses on the achievement of “the mean,” or balance among the myriad affairs of life. The text also stresses the importance of authenticity cheng 
and the cosmic dimensions of sagehood. Of the Four Books, this has produced the most variations in the translations of its title. The most widely used is the Doctrine of the Mean. Others include The Mean, Centrality and Equilibrium, the Constant Balance, Maintaining Perfect Balance, the Constant Mean, and Centrality and Commonality. After much thought, I decided for purposes of Wu’s use of it on Practicing the Mean, inspired by Andrew Plaks translation, On the Practice of the Mean. Wu was not reading it for its ideas as a philosopher or scholar, but for its help with self-cultivation in everyday life. “Practicing” in the title gives it a dynamic sense the other translations lack. (48, 49, 50, 52, 57, 68, 75, 86, 127) (Letters 1, 2, 3, 6)
The Five Classics (Wujing 
) These are texts first canonized as the Confucian classics back in the time of the Han dynasty. Before the Song, they were regarded more highly than the Four Books. The tradition believes that Confucius had something to do with either their compiling, editing, or even writing.
Book of Changes (Yijing 
)—the most important of the five classics in terms of its influence on Neo-Confucian cosmology and self-cultivation. Originally a divination text, it had much commentary added to it over time. Neo-Confucians drew upon many of its ideas found in the Ten Wings, especially the “Commentary on the Appended Phrases” in two parts. (35, 67, 208, 281, 288, 322)
Book of History (Shujing )―a collection of speeches, decrees, and documents that are said to have come from as far back as the sage rulers Yao and Shun up until the early Zhou. Other translations of its title include Book of Documents and Classic of History. Wu Yubi doesn’t mention reading it specifically but alludes to it in entries 10 and 224.
Book of Odes (Shijing 
)―the first anthology of poetry in China, which includes a little more than three hundred poems, ranging from folk songs to highly ceremonial ones for court. It is also known as the Book of Poetry, the Book of Songs, and the Classic of Odes. (172, 266)
Book of Rites (Liji 
)—its content ranges from general principles about the cosmos to very specific rules for behavior, such as {177} table manners. As noted about the Four Books, two of its chapters (the Great Learning and Practicing the Mean) later became regarded as texts in their own right and were published separately. (106)
Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu 
)—a record of the affairs of the state of Lu, the home of Confucius, from 722 to 481, said to have been written by Confucius himself. Written in a terse style, it is usually only read with commentaries, the three principal ones being the Gongyang 
, Guliang 
, and Zuo 
. (164) (Letter 9)
Reflections on Things at Hand (Jinsilu 
)—anthology compiled by Zhu Xi and Lu Zuqian, in 14 juan, of the sayings of the major Northern Song Neo-Confucians, and published in 1175. In the Preface, Zhu Xi states, “Fearing that a beginner may not know where to start, we have selected passages concerned with fundamentals and closely related to daily application to constitute this volume…. So if a young man in an isolated village has the will to learn but no teacher, this is for him.” (Trans. by Chan, Reflections on Things at Hand, p. 2.) It was one of the key educational texts for Neo-Confucians, in addition to the Four Books. (27, 28, 98, 111, 144) (Letter 12a)
II. Other Titles
Answers to Questions on the Great Learning (Daxue huowen 
)—a short text in 2 juan. Written by Zhu Xi to clarify and answer questions about his more extensive Commentary on the Great Learning (Daxue zhangzhu). (Letter 5)
Biographical Account of Cheng Hao (Mingdao xingzhuang 
)—by Cheng Yi, in Collected Works of Cheng Yi (Yichuan wenji 
) 7:1a–7a. (117, 136)
Case Studies of Ming Confucians (Mingru xuean 
)—compiled by Huang Zongxi, it is one of the most important anthologies of Ming thought.
Catalogue of the Imperial Manuscript Library (Siku quanshu zongmu 
).This is an annotated catalog to the great governmental compilation project in the eighteenth century of all the books in {178} China. One translation of the compilation is Complete Library of the Four Treasuries.
Chronological Biography of Zhu Xi (Zhuzi nianpu 
)—by Yuan Zhonghui in 1 juan. (107)
Classified Conversations of Zhu Xi (Zhuzi yulei 
)—compiled by Li Jingde (fl. 1263) in 140 juan, published in 1270. Also known by Zhu’s hao, as the Huian xiansheng yulu 
(Classified Conversations of Master Huian). (185, 215, 282, 298) (Letter 12a)
Collected Commentaries on the Analects (Lunyu jizhu 
)—by Zhu Xi in 10 juan. (Letter 12b)
Collected Works of Lu Zhi (Lu Xuangong ji 
)—his collected writings in 15 juan. (288)
Collected Works of Wu Cheng (Caolu wenji 
)—his collected writings in 100 juan. (45)
Collected Works of Zhu Xi (Huian wenji 
, or Zhuzi wenji 
, or Zhuzi daquan )―his collected writings edited by Zhu’s disciple Zhu Zai, in 100 juan. (117, 127, 150, 179, 184, 307, 309; Letters 12a, b)
Compilation of Exemplary Biographies to Alert the Self (Zijing bian 
)—edited by Chao Shanliao (fl. 1231), in 9 juan. Offers exemplary words and deeds of virtuous men in anecdotal style. (207, 240)
Complete Works of Han Yu (Han Changli quanshu 
)—his collected writings. (174, 175, 176)
Correct Models for Literature (Wenzhang zhengzong 
”)—edited by Zhen Dexiu in 24 juan; presents literature from the point of view of principle. (58)
Diagrams to the Yi Rituals (Yilitu 
)―compiled by Yang Fu (fl. 1230) in 17 juan. (270)
Digest of the Recorded Conversations of Zhu Xi (Zhuzi yulue 
)—compiled by Zhu Xi’s student Yang Yuli to provide a simple selection of Zhu Xi’s sayings. (107) (Letter 12a)
Extended Meaning of the Great Learning (Daxue yanyi 
)—by Zhen Dexiu in 43 juan. This was not an ordinary commentary on {179} the Great Learning but a guide for correct moral behavior, especially for the emperor. It not only emphasizes the importance of self-cultivation for the emperor but draws on historical cases from the past to illustrate what would be deemed exemplary or bad actions. (Letter 5)
History of the Jin Dynasty (Jin shi 
)—history of the Jin dynasty (265–419) in 130 juan. (83)
“Letting My Feelings Arise While Resting in My Studio” Poems (Zhaiju ganxing shi 
)—in 20 shou 
(quantifier for poetry), these are poems by Zhu Xi in his Collected Works 4:6b–9a. He said he wrote them after reading some poems of the Tang poet Chen Ziang, which he thought were too Buddhist. (139)
Master Zhu’s Works on the Management of Human Affairs and Providing a Standard for Literature (Zhuzi jingji wenheng 
)—a collection of selections from Zhu Xi’s Recorded Conversations and his Collected Works, divided into categories, edited by Teng Gong of the late 12th century. (Letter 13)
Record of the Origins of the School of the Two Chengs (Yi Luo yuanyuanlu 
)—a collection of biographies of key Neo-Confucians of the Northern Song period in 14 juan, compiled by Zhu Xi. This is the text that sparked Wu Yubi’s conversion experience. (Letter 3, Colophon)
Records of the Words and Deeds of Eminent Officials of the Song Dynasty (Song mingchen yanxinglu 
”
)—edited by Zhu Xi, a collection of biographies of Northern Song officials, with a focus more on social-political aspects than self-cultivation. (118, 182) (Letter 12a)
Records of the Words and Deeds of the Song Confucian Masters (Yi Lo Guan Min yanxinglu 
”
)—The title more literally is the “Records of the Words and Deeds of Zhou Dunyi, the Cheng Brothers, Zhang Zai, and Zhu Xi.” I have not been able to find anything about this text, which from its title seems to have been modeled on the format of Zhu Xi’s biographical collection just discussed in the entry above. (193)
Written Legacy of the Cheng Brothers (Chengzi yishu 
)—in Er Cheng quanshu (Complete Works of the Two Chengs) in 25 juan with one appended juan. It was edited by Zhu Xi in 1168. An alternate translation of its title is Surviving Works of the Cheng Brothers. (183, 189, 272, 279, 288, 319) (Letter 12a)
{180} Zhu Xi’s Classified Conversations See Classified Conversations of Zhu Xi.
Zhu Xi’s Collected Works See Collected Works of Zhu Xi.
Conversion of Book Titles in Wade-Giles to Pinyin
| Chang Tzu ch’üan-shu | Zhangzi quanshu |
| Cheng-meng | Zhengmeng |
| Ch’eng Tzu i-shu | Chengzi yishu |
| Chou Tzu ch’üan-shu | Zhouzi quanshu |
| Chin-ssu lu | Jinsilu |
| Chung-yung | Zhongyong |
| Chu Tzu Ta-ch’üan | Zhuzi Daquan |
| Chu Tzu nien-p’u | Zhuzi nianpu |
| Chu Tzu yü-lei | Zhuzi yulei |
| Erh-Ch’eng ch’üan-shu | Er Cheng quanshu |
| Hsiao-hsüeh | Xiaoxue |
| I Ching | Yijing |
| I-ch’uan wen-chi | Yichuan wenji |
| I-shu | Yishu |
| K’ang-chai hsien-sheng hsing-chuang | Kangzhai xiansheng xingzhuang |
| Ming-dao hsing-chuang | Mingdao xingzhuang |
| Ming-ju hsüeh-an | Mingru xuean |
| Shih-ching | Shijing |
| Ssu-k’u ch’üan-shu tsung-mu | Siku quanshu zongmu |
| Ssu-shu | Sishu |
| Ta-hsüeh | Daxue |
| Ta-hsüeh yen-i | Daxue yanyi |
| T’ung-shu | Tongshu |