Collection on Nourishing the True
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Summary
Traditional Chinese thought has a long history and is highly original, inventive, and literary. Early thought forms have distinctive features: religious theology, classical Chinese medical texts, ancient military treatises, Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and the Hundred Schools of Thought, feng shui and metaphysical learning, the Twenty-Four Histories, and local customs and gazetteers are all profound and extensive. This series, "Essence of Chinese Classics: Original Texts," preserves the appearance of the original books and focuses on preserving and transmitting traditional Chinese thought and culture. By reading the literary essence left by ancient sages, readers can cultivate their temperament and subtly appreciate the classics of Chinese learning.
Editor's review
Yang Zhen Ji is included in the series "Essence of Chinese Classics: Original Texts," presenting a traditional work on self-cultivation and nourishing the true in a manner that preserves the original appearance of the book. Its value lies not in novelty-seeking but in letting readers directly encounter the ancients' thinking on cultivating the mind-and-nature and practicing it in daily life, and in experiencing the original expression of the "nourishing the true" strand in traditional culture. The book's length and format suit slow reading; its language carries the concision and traces of its era of classical Chinese, and reading requires some patience and the aid of annotations. As an original-text reader, it is more suitable as material for traditional-culture enthusiasts to keep at their desk and steep themselves in repeatedly than as a popular book to be read through once. Reading scenarios might be quietly reading one or two passages in the morning or before sleep and verifying them against one's own life experience; it can also be read against related Confucian and Daoist classics to observe similarities and differences in the discourse of self-cultivation. For the editor, the book's highlight lies in "preserving the true"; if readers can let go of expectations of speed-reading and chew through it passage by passage, they will more easily feel the texture of traditional thought in the concrete text.
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers interested in traditional texts on self-cultivation who are willing to read originals slowly
- Those who wish to encounter the original appearance of classics of Chinese learning and accumulate firsthand reading experience
- Readers who like excerpting short passages and keeping reading notes and self-reflection journals
- Those with some foundation in classical Chinese who can understand simple classical prose with the aid of annotations
Not a good fit for
- Beginning readers expecting light stories or popular explanations
- Those who wish to quickly acquire a systematic knowledge framework
- Readers with no experience in reading classical Chinese who are unwilling to consult annotations
Reading tips
- Read only a small passage each day, and after reading, retell the main idea in your own words; avoid greed for quantity.
- Keep a pen ready and mark sentences that move you as you read; review them together at the weekend.
- When encountering difficult places, skip them first, and after finishing a piece, go back and check with annotations or reference works.
- Read alongside a short Confucian or Daoist text for comparison and appreciate the differences in formulation.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 序
- 养真集上卷
- 道
- 理
- 天地
- 人生
- 老
- 病
- 死
- 苦
- 性命
- 心
- 情
- 思
- 念
- 好
- 身
- 脉
- 尘世
- 名利
- 色
- 事
- 物
- 我
- 假
- 境
- 识
- 过
- 善
- 梦
- 神
- 养真集下卷
- 气
- 精
- 教
- 学
- 知
- 行
- 言
- 省察
- 敬
- 克治
- 止
- 观
- 存养
- 戒
- 定
- 慧
- 诚
- 孝
- 德
- 仁
- 静
- 乐
- 太极
- 中
- 学圣
- 坎离
- 开关
- 就正
- 跋
FAQ
Is this book suitable for readers with no foundation in classical Chinese?
Not very suitable for absolute beginners. This book preserves the original appearance, and its language bears classical Chinese features; without experience in reading classical Chinese, one may be blocked after a few pages. It is suggested to first read some selections of classics of Chinese learning with vernacular translations, accumulate common function words and sentence patterns, then return to the original for slow reading, and the experience will be much smoother.
What does "nourishing the true" roughly mean, and what preparation is needed before reading?
Judging from the title, "nourishing the true" points to traditional topics such as cultivating the original true nature and self-cultivation; the specific content must be based on the original book. No specialized knowledge is needed before reading, but one may first understand a little of the common Confucian and Daoist concepts of self-cultivation, prepare a dictionary of classical Chinese, and consult it diligently when uncertain about characters and words, avoiding interpreting by appearance.
Should this book be read through or selectively?
Selective and repeated reading is more recommended. Original-text writings have high information density; reading straight through easily causes fatigue and yields limited returns. You can each time choose one or two passages of interest for close reading, make brief notes, and return to them a few days later, often with new understanding. The whole book need not be read in order at one go.
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About the author
王士端
Author
Wang Shiduan is an author about whom very little is publicly known. Apart from the single work attributed to him, Yangzhen Ji (A Collection on Cultivating Truth), such details as his birthplace, dates of birth and death, courtesy name, and teachers remain uncertain. Judged by the surviving work, Yangzhen Ji belongs to Eastern philosophy and centers on self-cultivation and a return to simplicity and authenticity. Its style resembles traditional notes and sayings, carefully organized and free of empty rhetoric, with philosophical reflection grounded in daily practice. Though not widely circulated, the book has kept a modest place among readers of traditional learning on mind and nature, and is often treated as an introductory text on the discipline of self-cultivation. Since the author's life is obscure, readers are better advised to approach the text itself and appreciate its plain, earnest, and action-oriented character, while the figure of Wang Shiduan still awaits new materials and further study.
