This article points out that during the Southernand Northern Dynasties the Confucians practisedchiang ching (講經) or "oral interpretation of theclassics", in imitation of the Buddhist practice ofpreaching on the sutras, also known as chiang ching.Consequently, the Confucians, like the Buddhists, also wrote down records of such oral interpretations.These records were called yi shu (義疏)or chiang shu(講疏). The character shu (疏)is generally taken tomean "sub-commentary", but the writer believes thatit really means "record"：the chiang shu of such andsuch a classic means the record of an oralinterpretation of this classic. Later Confucianswrote Shu in imitation of these records, but failedto explain the origin of this particular form ofwriting.
The writer begins with a discussion on theritual of oral interpretation of the canon(Confucian or Buddhist, as the case may have been), and shows when the Confucian practice began to showresemblances to the Buddhist one. He then discussthe writing of "records"(shu), and points out thatthe relation between the Confucian practice and theBuddhist one was based on metaphysics, particularlyin the Southern Dynasties. The writer furtherdiscusses the differences between Confucian scholar-ship in the Southern Dynasties and that in theNorthern Dynasties, and the different ways in whichthey were influenced by Buddhism. It is hoped thisarticle may be of interest to students of the historyof Chinese thought and of the history of Confucianschoralship.
