Reading

BY | 09-05-2016
(Chinese Social Sciences Today)

 

读书不难,能用为难。
The difficulty is not in reading books, but in applying what you read to daily life.
The proverb relates to the difficulty of applying knowledge rather than merely learning new concepts in a shallow manner.

 

读书法,有三到,心眼口,信皆要。
Methods for reading, all three are needed: the mind, the eyes, the mouth
The proverb means that people should devote their entire mind to reading. Then they can fully understand the meaning of books.

 

读书破万卷,下笔如有神。
Ample reading produces fluent writing.
This proverb means that people should read extensively and thoroughly, so they can fluently apply their knowledge to writing without any hesitation.

 

读书之法,莫贵乎循序而致精。
When reading, what’s most important is making steady progress so as to gradually attain proficiency in learning.
The proverb relates to properly scaling the difficulty of reading material: people should start with easier material and gradually improve their skills to tackle harder content.

 

读万卷书,行万里路。
Read 10,000 volumes and travel 10,000 li.
The proverb is generally used to mean that extensive reading and travel are two important ways to broaden one’s horizons, or that it is as important to apply what one has learned in order to truly appreciate knowledge.