日知錄·文須有益於天下、著書之難 Of Use to the Future: Two Notes from Gu Yanwu's Record of Daily Knowledge Gu Yanwu 顧炎武 (1613–1682) Qing · begun 1639; printed in full 1695 Cold Library · Open Stacks · S-008219 · https://coldlibrary.com/s/008219 Rights: Written between 1639 and 1682 and first printed in full in 1695; the author died in 1682. Checked for Australia, the EU, the UK, mainland China and the United States as of 11 October 2026. Guidance, not legal advice. Source: Wikisource (zh), 日知錄/卷19, https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/日知錄/卷19 (retrieved 2026-10-11) English translation: Claude (an AI), 2026 · CC0 1.0 Generated 2026-10-14 from https://coldlibrary.com/en/open-stacks/gu-yanwu-writing-of-use-to-the-future ---- 文須有益於天下 文之不可絕於天地間者，曰明道也，紀政事也，察民隱也，樂道人之善也。若此者，有益於天下，有益於將來，多一篇，多一篇之益矣。若夫怪力亂神之事，無稽之言，剿襲之說，諛佞之文，若此者，有損於己，無益於人，多一篇，多一篇之損矣。 著書之難 子書自孟、荀之外，如老、莊、管、商、申、韓，皆自成一家言。至《呂氏春秋》、《淮南子》，則不能自成，故取諸子之言，彙而為書，此子書之一變也。今人書集，一一盡出其手，必不能多，大抵如《呂覽》、《淮南》之類耳。其必古人之所未及就，後世之所不可無，而後為之，庶乎其傳也與？ 宋人書如司馬溫公《資治通鑒》、馬貴與《文獻通考》，皆以一生精力成之，遂為後世不可無之書。而其中小有舛漏，尚亦不免。若後人之書，愈多而愈舛漏，愈速而愈不傳，所以然者，其視成書太易，而急於求名故也。 伊川先生晚年作《易傳》成，門人請授，先生曰：「更俟學有所進。子不云乎：忘身之老也，不知年數之不足也，俛焉日有孳孳，斃而後已。」 ---- 文须有益于天下 文之不可绝于天地间者，曰明道也，纪政事也，察民隐也，乐道人之善也。若此者，有益于天下，有益于将来，多一篇，多一篇之益矣。若夫怪力乱神之事，无稽之言，剿袭之说，谀佞之文，若此者，有损于己，无益于人，多一篇，多一篇之损矣。 著书之难 子书自孟、荀之外，如老、庄、管、商、申、韩，皆自成一家言。至《吕氏春秋》、《淮南子》，则不能自成，故取诸子之言，汇而为书，此子书之一变也。今人书集，一一尽出其手，必不能多，大抵如《吕览》、《淮南》之类耳。其必古人之所未及就，后世之所不可无，而后为之，庶乎其传也与？ 宋人书如司马温公《资治通鉴》、马贵与《文献通考》，皆以一生精力成之，遂为后世不可无之书。而其中小有舛漏，尚亦不免。若后人之书，愈多而愈舛漏，愈速而愈不传，所以然者，其视成书太易，而急于求名故也。 伊川先生晚年作《易传》成，门人请授，先生曰：「更俟学有所进。子不云乎：忘身之老也，不知年数之不足也，俛焉日有孳孳，毙而后已。」 ---- English translation by Claude (an AI) Writing Must Be of Use to the World The writing that must never be lost from between heaven and earth is that which makes the Way clear, records the affairs of government, looks into the hidden hardships of the people, and delights in telling of others' goodness. Writing of this kind is of use to the world and of use to the future: one more piece of it is one more piece of benefit. As for writing about prodigies, force, disorder and spirits, groundless talk, borrowed theories and flattering prose, it harms the one who writes it and is of no use to anyone: one more piece of it is one more piece of harm. The Difficulty of Writing Books Among the writings of the philosophers, apart from Mencius and Xunzi, those of Laozi, Zhuangzi, Guanzi, Lord Shang, Shen Buhai and Han Fei each make a school of their own. With the Annals of Lü Buwei and the Huainanzi, the authors could not make a school of their own, so they took the sayings of the various masters and gathered them into a book: that was one change in the writing of philosophy. The collected works of people today, every word from their own hand, cannot amount to much, and are mostly of the same kind as the Annals of Lü and the Huainanzi. Only if a book does what the ancients did not get to, and what later ages cannot do without, and is written for that reason, may it perhaps be handed down. Among the books of the Song, Lord Wen of Sima's Comprehensive Mirror and Ma Guiyu's Comprehensive Examination of Documents were each the work of a whole life's strength, and so became books later ages cannot do without; yet even they could not avoid small errors and omissions. The books of later writers, the more there are of them, the more errors and omissions they have, and the faster they are written, the less they last. The reason is that their authors think a book too easily finished, and are in a hurry for fame. When Master Yichuan finished his commentary on the Changes late in life, his students asked him to teach it to them. He said: "Let us wait until my learning has advanced further. Did the Master not say: forgetting that one is growing old, not knowing that the years are running short, bending to the work day after day, and stopping only at death?"