Xinya Reading Club is an extracurricular organization thatthestudents at Xinya College attend spontaneously and voluntarily. Since 2016, the students have organized reading groups onThe Analects of Confucius,The Great LearningandThe Doctrine of the Mean,The Art of War,Lao Tzu,The Commentary of Zuo,The Book of Songs,History of the Peloponnesian War, andCritique of Pure Reason."One can come and go freely, but shall not be frivolous or lack concentration when reading."On weekend nights, the students sit together, reading texts, deliberating on words and phrases, or discussing issues. A "Xinya Learning Community" has taken shape.

The reading group onThe Great LearningandThe Doctrine of the Mean

The reading group studied theCollected Annotations of the Four Booksby Zhu Xi withAnnotations of The Book of Ritesby Zheng Xuan and Kong Yingda,Interpretation of the Four BooksandZhuzi Yuleiby Zhu Xi, andQuestions Regarding The Great Learningby Wang Yangming as references.Through intensive reading, they figured out the different text structures and interpretation characteristics of various annotations and basic ideas about studies of Confucian classics, Neo-Confucianism and Philosophy of the Mind, compared and analyzed the differences of interpretations by observing the evolution of Confucianism, and discussed the changes in thought. The group was led by Gong Zhichong, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Philosophy of Peking University.

Student's impression

Wang Leijie: I really like the form of thereading club. Not to mention the erudition of the group leader or how classical the books are, as a student in science, I am so impressed by the profoundness of liberal arts after we discussed the present and the past and distinguished the thoughts of different schools. It's a pity that I didn't reach a higher level. I look forward to more reading in the next semester.

The reading group onThe Analects of Confucius

The reading group used theCollected Annotations of the Four Booksby Zhu Xi andNew Interpretations ofThe Analects of Confuciusby Qian Mu as the major texts, and readThe Analects of Confuciussentence by sentence withLunyu Zhengyiby Liu Baonan andLunyu Jishiby Cheng Shude as references.The discussion was not limited to the texts. The related items were extended to specific debates in the history of Confucian classics, and the internal tension in the texts was figured out in combination with the background of the times. The group was led by He Qinghan, a postgraduate student in the Department of Philosophy of Tsinghua University.

When studyingBayi(Eight Teams of Dancers) in the semester, students found the theory and fundamental thoughts of rituals abstruse, so the group leader designed a reading sequence fromThe Book of Rites: LiyuntoHsun Tzu: Lilunto works on rites by Ling Tingkan and Huang Shisanto the new bookDisintegration of Human Relationsby Wu Fei.The students had a further understanding of the disputes over rites in the Han and Song Dynasties and the debate about benevolence and rituals.

Student's impression

Peng Zhongyao: The reading group onThe Analects of Confuciushas been active for a year and a half. We sorted out and studied the related texts of past dynasties, figured out some basic propositions in the history ofConfucian classics and the predicament for Confucianism in the face of modernity, and supplemented ideological resources from Chinese classics in the dispute between China and the West, so as to develop a different perspective for further understanding of modern society and modern China. During the long-term reading, we have found that one may tend to be lost in the annotations and ignore what the text itself wants to convey and its internal structure. At this point, we adjusted the reading plan for the next year in a hope of getting to know more about the deep meaning ofThe Analects of Confucius.

The reading group onThe Commentary of Zuo

The reading group was led by Liu Guang, a Ph.D. studentin the Department of History of Tsinghua University. It mainly resorted to theAnnotation to The Commentary of Zuoby Yang Bojun and intended to explore the historical value ofThe Commentary of Zuo.Thestudents first tried to interpretThe Commentary of Zuoin a literal sense, and then compared it with the annotation by Mr. Yang, so as to interpret the book in their own way.After they sorted it out, the group leader introduced them to certain historical knowledge in relation toThe Commentary of Zuo, such as the changes in characters when the ancient scriptures from the Han Dynasty were transcribed into modern texts, Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, and the application ofEphemeris of the Pre-Qin Period.

Student's impression

Hu Jiale: I have been studyingThe Commentary of Zuofor the past year. We were trained to interpret the texts literally, and figure out the international situation in the Spring and Autumn Period on the macro scale and knowledge of military matters and calendar. We didn't just read a book, but were introduced into a space for conversing with the ancients.The names from long time ago, including Fu Qian, Du Yu, Kong Yingda, Wang Fuzhi and Shen Qinhan, came alive as we explored the text. We have seen the inherent complexity ofThe Commentary of Zuo, the achievements by scholars dedicated to the study of Confucian classics in the past thousands of years, and the exploration and life embedded in the text.

The reading group onThe Art of War

The reading group perused theAnnotation to Sun Tzu by Eleven Schoolsfor understanding the military thought inThe Art of Warand thinking about its application in the society and life.If time permits, an English version will be read and a comparison made with ancient military books such asMethods of the Minister of WarandWuzi, and modern Western military classics such as Machiavelli'sThe Art of Warand Clausewitz'sOn War, so as to seek a deeper understanding from an international perspective.The reading group was led by Wang Ke, a senior student from the Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Tsinghua University.

Student's impression

Gao Jinghan: I joined the reading group onThe Art of Warled by Wang Ke, a senior from the School of Humanities. We read one article in theAnnotation to Sun Tzu by Eleven Schoolsper week. In terms of the form, the presentation by Wang each time was no different from a real course for reading and studying classics. He listed the relevant literature for our reference along with materials in English for comparison. For example, he gave me materials in the first session for introduction such asHistorical Records: Sun Tzu's Biography,A Short History of Chinese Philosophyby Feng Youlan, and the foreword by Hart (translation by Griffith).

The group leaders at the Reading Club of Xinya College are usually graduate students or senior undergraduates in Tsinghua University, which has shortened the distance between members of the community and provided us with opportunities for cross-grade and cross-disciplinary discussions and exchanges outside classrooms. The reading sessions, after all, are extracurricular activities in a sense, and are attended on a voluntary basis. It is not easy to calmour mind and read along with fellow students on weekend nights. We are attracted by the books, and more motivated by our interest and eagerness to "read classics". I believe that the reading club has served a part in building the community of learning at Xinya College.