Commentaries (??) and Annotations (?) in the Interpretation of Confucian Classics

Pao-san Chang
National Taiwan University

The Chinese compound chu-shu ???, often translated as “commentary”, is a word that is often used when discussing the interpretation of Confucian classics and in fact scholars commonly assume that the two different characters making up the compound are synonyms. However, from the viewpoint of the tradition of interpretation of Confucian classics, chu ?? (commentaries) and shu ? (annotations) are different both in terms of form and content.

This paper proposes to discuss similarities and differences between commentaries and annotations in terms of their form, methods used, and the intent behind interpretation. In addition, a discussion of the relationship between the two types of work will be discussed. This paper will be divided into the following sections: (1) Introduction, (2) Comparison of Commentaries and Annotations, (3) Relationship between Commentaries and Annotations, (4) Discussion of the Idea that Annotations do not Overstep Commentaries, (5) Conclusion.

Such discussion will hopefully correct the previous tendency among scholars not to distinguish between commentaries and annotations as well as promote a more precise understanding of the tradition of interpreting Confucian classics.