The so-called Foundational Books were the books upon which a person's entire learning rested.
Learning had foundations, just as a tree had a trunk. From the trunk grew branches, from the branches sprouted buds and leaves, until its boughs flourished in lush abundance.
Learning worked the same way. To enter its ranks, one needed several Foundational Books learned by heart, thoroughly studied and fully understood. Then, when reading widely, one could draw everything together and develop it further, extending from points to planes and linking them into a network. It was much the same with King Xiang and Emperor Gaozu: though they gathered the masses of the realm, their foundations were merely the sons of Jiangdong and the old companions of Pei County.
Pursuing learning was like recruiting soldiers. Without a foundation, even a hundred thousand men were no more than a rabble; with a foundation, eight hundred elite troops could aspire to contend for supremacy. In short, one first needed a foundation to build upon. Once the root was established, the way would grow, flourishing day by day and month by month, becoming firmer with time, until it gradually acquired the momentum to sweep across the realm.
Thus, although Wang Yang had not previously answered which books formed his foundations, the five men had already made assumptions. Judging by the three books he had written, his foundations probably lay among several works centered on the Book of Documents. Yet now Wang Yang had actually said he "didn't know where to begin." Wasn't that claiming his foundations were so substantial that a few words could not encompass them? But he was only a youth-however substantial they were, how substantial could they possibly be? Could he truly have mastered all Five Classics and immersed himself in the writings of every philosophical