It means: the method of reading is step by step, step by step, from shallow to deep, and think carefully after reading.

From: Cheng, Ming, Chronology of Reading in Cheng's Family School, Reading Law.

In his long-term educational practice, Cheng realized that many Confucian schools at that time blindly emphasized "reciting essays" and "learning essays", ignoring moral cultivation, the teaching of basic knowledge, and paying no attention to serious reading, thus cultivating a good reading atmosphere. He has always wanted students to take the imperial examination as soon as possible and become famous in one fell swoop.

In this way, students can't really "read", which will eventually lead to a situation of "chaos without evidence, haste without speed". He thought that the problem faced by school education at that time was to stipulate a set of strict teaching procedures and teaching plans, so that students could learn according to certain procedures and follow certain steps and methods.

In this way, students can not only "read" after graduation, but also adapt to the needs of imperial examinations, thus "integrating Neo-Confucianism with career promotion". Therefore, according to the principle that "the way to learn is not poverty, but the key to poverty is reading", Zhu compiled the Chronicle of Reading in Cheng's Family School.

Extended data:

Cheng wrote an article saying that he knows how to be clean and not deviate from the right path. He is the author of Cheng Jiashu's Reading List, The Original Meaning of Spring and Autumn Period, The Collection of Fears of Lent, etc. In particular, the book Reading Schedule, according to Zhu's thought of "knowing and using", corrected the disadvantages of "haste makes waste".

Detailed procedures such as reading classics, learning history and literature; Paying attention to teaching procedures, basic skills training and frequent review and examination has become a detailed teaching plan for home schools. At that time, imperial academy awarded this book to the county school, and it was also regarded as a reading criterion by Confucianism in the Ming Dynasty. The spread of Lu-printed inscriptions in the Qing Dynasty had an impact on family studies, academies and Confucianism at that time and later.