Yan Tie Lun (鹽鐵論) · Volume 1

Confucian Classics

Start with the Four Books in order: the Great Learning sets the frame, the Analects records the sayings, Mencius develops them, and the Doctrine of the Mean closes the sequence. Then read the Book of Songs, the Book of Documents, the Book of Rites and the Spring and Autumn commentaries. Xunzi, the Chunqiu Fanlu, Reflections on Things at Hand and Instructions for Practical Living show how the school’s thought was later argued and extended.