The Idea and Method of Close Reading

The close reading of classics is a way of cultivating the spirit to illuminate one’s own mind. The close reading must be the classic and vice versa. And the relationship between classics and readers is symbiotic. Close reading is divided into two stages which are external seeking and the internalization and introspection, and four steps which are rough reading, intensive reading, re-reading and reading for cultivation. A close reading, from a hermeneutic point of view, is a hermeneutic cycle. The “closeness”, quietness and respect, represent a kind of mind being and life aesthetics. The close reading as a kind of book ceremony is actually a life practice, and a philosophical way of existence.