41 Learning Methods That Benefit a Lifetime

Chapter 33 How to Read a Good Book

After choosing good and suitable books, how to read a book?
① When reading books, you should also pay attention to grasping the key points.

The main purpose of reading is to understand.It is necessary to establish a set of analysis system according to the theme, first observe a sentence with complete thoughts and paragraphs, then analyze the words that make up the sentence, and finally recognize the letters.That is to say, first find out the emphasis and purpose of the author's emphasis, and understand the structure of the book from the table of contents.Find a few important arguments and read them carefully.You can pretend to be a detective.To find clues such as themes and viewpoints in the book, one must be alert at all times in order to achieve the goal quickly.When reading a difficult book for the first time, it is best to read it in one breath, without stopping to think or check for what you don't understand.You can read it once quickly, and when you read it for the second time, you can understand more and absorb more.Checking references too early not only doesn't help us, but hinders our reading.You must also be able to read at different speeds.You can also use your finger as a pointer, not only to train to increase reading speed, but also to promote greater concentration.

②A very important principle of reading is active reading.

Simple rules for active reading—ask questions as you read, and must try to answer them yourself.Questions that must be asked of any book that is also relevant to the point:
What is the book about in general?bud

What is the author detailing?bud

Is this book real?bud

What does this book have to do with you?bud

To be able to grasp the point, to indicate the development of the author's series of ideas, you must, however, connect all the ideas together.

There is no other way to cultivate the habit, only to use continuous practice to form the habit of reading.Habits are second nature. Only by mastering the rules can we use them proficiently. Only by mastering the principles and continuous practice and application can we form habits.

③The learning method of grasping the key points is divided into three stages:

Phase [-] - Find out the rules for the content of the book.

Classified according to the type and subject of the work.

Use the shortest possible text to describe the content of this book.

According to the context and sequence of content development, list the outline of each part one by one.

Identify the problem the author is trying to solve.

The second stage - the rules for interpreting the content of the work.

Find out the author's key words, and fully understand the meaning of these words.

Find out the important sentences and grasp the author's main proposition from them.

Find interrelated sentences and organize them to understand the author's argument.

Identify the problems the author has solved and the ones he has not solved, and finally decide on the problems he cannot solve.

Stage Three - Rules for Reviewing a Book.

A．General rules of smart etiquette for commenting.

Before you fully understand the work, don't agree, disagree or have doubts arbitrarily.

Do not maliciously object or refute.

When criticizing a work, reasons or evidence for the criticism must be presented.

B．Special Guidelines for Critical Viewpoints
testify to the author's ignorance.

Allegation that the author conveyed false knowledge.

Testify against the author's illogical point of view.

Incompleteness of the author's analysis or explanation.

Explanatory books are mainly to convey knowledge, and only after thinking and grasping the key points, the rules drawn up can be understood at a glance.Wise behavior is based on knowledge.A theoretical book that tells you how things work.Practical books teach you how to do what you want to do and how to think about what you must do.What the theory wants to express is the reality of things and the content of things themselves.Rather than presenting suggestions and methods for reaching better conclusions.The scope of philosophy books does not go beyond people's daily life experience.

④ You must learn to read different kinds of knowledge with an appropriate attitude.

You must read it with a perspective. To understand a book, the most important thing is to grasp the structure and the main points of the article.Every book worth reading has a complete structure, and each part is organized systematically.The more perfect the work, the more complete its structure.Every part that makes up the whole must be known, and there should be an organized connection between these parts.If there is a part that is not just a set but a planned, orchestrated plot of a complex combination, you have to try to find them.The plots in the world are very limited, and the quality of the story arrangement depends on how the author adds a coat to the backbone of the same plot.You must have your own experience, just like the author has his own point of view.

The so-called "step-by-step method" refers to learning in a planned and step-by-step manner according to a certain order.

Zhu Xi's Discussion on "Step by Step"

The step-by-step method is a kind of learning attitude and learning method summarized and summarized by Zhu Xi, a great scholar in Song Dynasty. "Or ask the method of reading, what's the use of force? Said: 'step by step'".This is the original text of the step-by-step method proposed by Zhu Xi, a philosopher and educator in the Southern Song Dynasty, in "The Essentials of Reading".What is step by step?Zhu Xi then gave a detailed explanation: as far as two books are concerned, "one book is followed by another book" and one book is concerned, "the order of the beginning and the end of the chapters and sentences should be orderly and not chaotic." He also asked: "If you haven't reached the front, you dare not seek the future; if you don't understand this, you dare not be arrogant about the other."
So, why step by step?Zhu Xi said with a vivid metaphor, "It's like climbing a mountain. If there are many people, you must go to the highest place. If you don't know how to ignore the low place, you will never be able to reach the highest place." Start with basic books, read through one and then another, read through one section and then another;Zhu Xi also wrote in "Classmates Records": "The method of reading is that the first book costs ten minutes, the second book costs six cents, and the last book costs four or five cents!" It can be easily solved." This is a law of scholarship.When I first started studying, because of my weak knowledge base, I had to lay a solid foundation first.To lay the foundation, you have to be strict and solid. I would rather spend more time and put in more effort.Once the foundation is solid, building a house on it will be fast.If you are blindly greedy and quick, the foundation is not solid, and you have to rework in the end, then the gain outweighs the loss.

Some people are eager to read, and rush forward as soon as they open the book.Zhu Xi criticized them like a hungry man walking into a restaurant, seeing a table full of large plates and small dishes, hungry for food, gobbling it voraciously, eating without knowing the taste.How to read?Zhu Xi's method is: "Seek the precepts of the words, and the purpose of the sentences. If you don't get the first, you dare not seek the next. If you don't understand this, you don't dare to equalize the other. If you progress step by step, your will will be clear, and there will be no looseness." It’s troublesome for Ling Yu.” That is to say, we must understand their meanings word by word, and understand their truth sentence by sentence.Don't rush to look at the back if you don't understand the front.In this way, there will be no omissions and mistakes.He also said: "Scholars read books, the problem is that they only need to move forward and refuse to regress. The more they read, the more indistinct they will be. If they don't regress, they can read carefully." Deep, step-by-step, and sometimes review frequently, to obtain solid knowledge with temporary regression.

(Hua Luogeng worked slowly to lay the foundation) The famous Chinese mathematician Hua Luogeng set a good example.In order to improve the efficiency of reading, I first laid the foundation with slow work, and then gradually accelerated the progress, so I received very good results.

When Hua Luogeng started self-study, he often suffered from impatience and kept accelerating. As a result, the knowledge he learned became "cooked rice".This lesson made him realize that one-sided pursuit of quickness does not conform to the dialectics of reading.Later, he preferred to learn more slowly and practice more than in school, and it took him five or six years to complete his high school courses.It seems that the high school courses were learned slowly, but because of the solid learning, it brought convenience to the later study of university courses.Not long after arriving at Tsinghua University, he heard about postgraduate courses.This is the benefit of step by step.

(Zhou Zumo's sequential reading method) Zhou Zumo, a linguist, used to be a professor of the Chinese Department of Peking University.His works include "Guangyun School-based", "Dialect School Notes", "Wen Xue Ji" and so on.He followed the "sequential reading method" in reading and learning, which is actually a step-by-step reading method.He said: "To specialize in a certain subject, you must first read the relevant basic books, and then take it into consideration. If you are engaged in language research, you must first learn linguistics well. If you want to be able to pronounce, you must be able to use phonetic marks. One step. If you are engaged in literary research, the summary of literary history is a necessary step. Regarding language and characters, you must read "Shuowen Jiezi" first, and then you can study ancient characters. When studying history, you should start with the general history first, and then conduct the study of dynastic history. .” When Zhou was studying, he first read one or two books carefully.He believes that superficial reading is a common problem today.It is of no use to put it on the shelf and not read it, or to read only two or three paragraphs. The "Book of Songs" only reads "Fatan", "July"), and "Shuoshu", which is far from understanding the "Book of Songs".For this reason, when he studied literature, he first read "The Book of Songs", then "Chu Ci", and read five-character poems from the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.The essence of this "sequential reading method" is to proceed step by step and lay a solid foundation.

Step by step in line with the law of cognition
Until today, the step-by-step method is also an important principle that we must follow in our learning.Because learning must start from the most basic content, and develop to a higher level of knowledge in a hierarchical and step-by-step manner according to the structural system of knowledge and the ability of individuals to accept.The step-by-step method just conforms to the law of the formation and development of the knowledge system, because any knowledge develops from simple to complex, from low-level perceptual to high-level rationality, and finally forms a strict and sequential system.At the same time, the step-by-step method is also in line with the law of human cognitive development.Human cognition gradually rises from sensibility to rationality, from phenomenon to essence, from concrete to abstract, and has a sequential nature.Therefore, the step-by-step method is determined by the order of knowledge and the hierarchy of human cognitive ability.Only by learning according to the rules can the quality and efficiency of learning be guaranteed.The step-by-step method reflects the unity of "sequence" and "progress". Learning must maintain the relative unity of "sequence" and "progress".

From the name, generally speaking, the step-by-step method should be our best learning method.Because it starts from the most basic relevant knowledge, and gradually brings us into the deep learning realm.When using the step-by-step method, you can also use the cyclic learning method, that is, after you have a basic understanding of the knowledge of each part, you can learn in depth.

The disadvantage of the step-by-step learning method is that it is not interesting and the learning effect is slow, especially in the early stage of learning, perseverance is often required to persist.Of course, once you get started and really master this method, these shortcomings will naturally disappear.Practice shows that once this learning method is completed, its effect is the best, because you have comprehensively and systematically mastered all aspects of knowledge and skills, so that in practical applications (including creativity), you will have a sense of success in all aspects. Feeling (this is really hard work).

Seriously study the subject to be studied, read through the relevant books, read through, read intensively, study repeatedly, think seriously, and master it in depth until it is mastered and used freely.This can be called "intensive reading" in the reading method.This reading method is different from ordinary reading, let alone browsing and extensive reading.

have to be aware of is:
①Intensive reading should set a clear direction, and selectively carry out intensive reading of the works and related basic courses that one focuses on.Ten eyes and one row, meticulously carved.

②A scientific reading plan should be formulated according to the key topics of the research.The basics come first, and the depth follows.You can't put the cart before the horse, let alone study whatever you see.Intensive reading means concentrating on a narrow professional field, intensive research, deep reading, careful appreciation, and in-depth grasp of its essence, which is the harvest of intensive reading.

When discussing reading, Guo Moruo taught us not to stop at a glance.He said: "Young people are very thirsty for knowledge, but lack of patience. That is to say, in terms of reading, before the book is opened, they always have the feeling of devouring the whole cow; but when encountering difficulties, they can't help but feel discouraged. So I tasted the trick The habit arises spontaneously. Before using one's own brainpower to seek understanding, one reads other people's comments to limit oneself, or just reads the preface of a book. Some people even use their half-knowledge to hear it. This is what we One of the most contagious diseases among young people."

In-depth research to lay a solid foundation
Xu Teli, a famous educator and revolutionary old man, has never been greedy for quick reading, but has paid attention to practical results and studied deeply.He believes that instead of reading ten books carelessly in one book, it is better to read a book honestly in ten books, and read the book clearly and clearly.Therefore, he advocated that reading should start from less to more, and study hard.

At that time, Mr. Xu had studied "Shuowen Jiezi" assiduously.This book was written by Xu Shen, a native of the Eastern Han Dynasty more than 1800 years ago. It is the first dictionary in the history of our country to systematically analyze the shape of characters and study the etymology. remember.Mr. Xu only learns two to three characters every day. When he goes to bed at night, he uses his right index finger to silently write the characters he learned during the day in the palm of his left hand, and he will not learn the next character until he is proficient. "Shuowen" has a total of 9000 characters in radicals, and it took him a year to finish reading two characters a day.Mr. Xu started learning foreign languages ​​at the age of 540, and he also used this method.He learns a new word every day, and has firmly memorized 1 basic vocabulary in one year.In this way of study he mastered French, German and Russian.He said: "My method of reading is always based on 'quantitative' and 'constant'. Unrealistically greedy, I can neither understand nor remember. To understand, you must remember the basic things, you must 'often',' Only by doing what we can do." That is to say, only by deep research can we lay a solid foundation and conduct further research.

What's wrong with "cooking books" and "eating books"
The female writer Ru Zhijuan is a person who loves reading.There is a banner in her home with two words written on it: "cooking books".Ru Zhijuan once explained to people: "It is not enough to just read a book. To read the storyline is equivalent to swallowing jujubes whole. You should read it. Reading is much more careful. However, reading is not enough, and you have to 'cook', 'cook ’ It’s so familiar and thorough, it can’t be done once or twice.” What a state of in-depth research this is.

Mathematician Zhang Guanghou once saw a paper on deficit value and felt that it was useful for his research work, so he read it over and over again.This thesis consists of more than 20 pages. He flipped through it repeatedly, leaving a black mark on the white pages.His lover joked to him, this is not called studying, it is simply eating books.

Pangolin reading through a hole
Tu Weiming is a well-known sinologist in the United States. Since 1967, he has taught the history of Chinese thought and philosophy in some universities in the United States.Mr. Du is knowledgeable, not only has his own view on reading, but also has a unique way of reading.In an interview, the reporter asked: "Mr. Du, what kind of reading method do you use?"

He replied: "The British scholar Berlin said that there are two ways to learn: one is the fox-drilling method, which has a wide range of contacts; the other is the pangolin-drilling method, which drills deeply. This can also be used to illustrate the importance of reading. way, and I use the pangolin way."

As an expert in Neo-Confucianism, Du Weiming's reading list mainly includes Four Books and Five Classics, Cheng Zhu Neo-Confucianism.For these classics, he read them systematically and repeatedly, and never tired of reading them.As far as the "Four Books" are concerned, he has to revisit them every year.When he read these books, he didn't read them all at once, but got into them headlong, thinking deeply at the same time, and he would gain something every time he read them.This is probably what he called "the pangolin's way of reading".Mr. Du believes that if there is no new harvest every time you reread the book, it means you have not read it. "Walking in the deep water to get the dragon", he learned a deeper philosophy from the book.It is this humble and studious attitude, the tireless spirit, and this "pangolin's way of reading" that have brought him fruitful academic research.

It takes a lot of hard work to study deeply
"Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world." This well-known saying was first put forward by Gu Yanwu, a patriotic thinker and famous scholar in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.He is also very hardworking in his studies, and he studies deeply what he has learned.

Gu Yanwu studied hard since childhood.He was enlightened at the age of 6, and began to read history books and literary masterpieces at the age of 10. When he was 11 years old, his grandfather Liyuan Gong asked him to finish reading "Zi Zhi Tong Jian", and warned: "Nowadays some people want to save trouble, just read books like "Compendium" and think that everything is over. , I think this is not desirable." These words made Gu Yanwu understand that reading and learning are honest things, and we must treat it seriously and faithfully.

Gu Yanwu worked diligently in his studies, and he took the measures of "self-supervision of reading": first, he set himself the number of books that he must read every day; second, he restricted himself to copy the books he read after finishing reading every day.After he finished reading "Zi Zhi Tong Jian", one book became two books; again, he asked himself to take notes and write down his experience every time he read a book.Part of his reading notes was later consolidated into the famous "Rizhilu"; finally, every spring and autumn, he would review the books he had read in the first half of the year, recite silently, and invite others to read aloud to find differences. Check it out now.He stipulated that he would review 200 pages in this way every day, and he would never finish the review without rest.

(End of this chapter)