STUDY / OBJECTIVE
Identify the inferential steps connecting diagrams, sequences and interpretation, with explicit support for your reading.
01 / STUDY
Identify what a passage is doing
A passage may explain a figure, prescribe an operation or use a figure to discuss human situations. Identify its task before annotating objects and verbs. For tables, ask how numbers arise and what orders them. For interpretation, identify the wording, analogies and premises supporting the conclusion.
02 / STUDY
Text, commentary and your own judgment
A page may contain classic text, commentary and modern punctuation. Preserve those layers in excerpts. Do not insert an editor's supplied subject or a commentator's explanation into a quotation from the base text. State your own reading clearly in a separate paragraph and provide inspectable textual grounds.
03 / STUDY
Locate where interpretations diverge
Different conclusions may arise from punctuation, word meanings, selected line positions or philosophical premises. Locate the earliest divergence and list the reasons on each side. If evidence cannot decide between them, retain parallel readings and specify what further material would help.
WORKED EXAMPLE
Separate an interpretation into four layers
Fictional teaching statement: “The figure is solid above and broken below; it resembles strength outside and weakness within, so internal matters should be addressed first.”
Graphic layer: record solid above and broken below, checking what the two positions refer to.
Analogical layer: outer strength and inner weakness add a mapping that requires explanation.
Practical layer: the recommendation adds priorities and values; it is not directly visible in the figure.
Use four columns—material, mapping, inference and evaluation—with support for each.
PRACTICE / REFLECTION
Exercises and answers
01Can a commentary be attributed directly to the author of the base text?
Read the explanation
No. Identify the commentator and edition, or leave attribution unresolved. Cite the base text and paraphrase commentary separately rather than merging voices from different periods.
02How can a disagreement become testable in textual discussion?
Read the explanation
Identify the disputed wording, punctuation or premise, offer an alternative and state what evidence would support or weaken it. Represent the original argument accurately before comparing explanatory scope.
A distinction to retain
Mathematical properties, philosophical interpretation and empirical evaluation pose different questions with different evidentiary requirements.
Unit output
A four-column annotation and a comparison of two readings of the same passage.
REFERENCES
Reading references
Summer 2021 archive · introduction and interpretive traditions
A modern scholarly overview used to distinguish textual and interpretive layers.Tsinghua republication · originally China Culture Daily, 14 January 2014
An edited talk by the manuscript editor; detailed readings require the published edition.References reviewed: 2026-10-24. Examples, record templates and explanations are editorial teaching material. Fictional inputs are not historical events or efficacy evidence. Citations imply no affiliation.
Personal study record; not a grade, assessment or credential.
Connected study paths
Yijing: from figures to textsFate systems: structure and interpretationSources: bones, manuscripts and DunhuangEditorial study material · 2026-10-24