Student Question: Hello, Master Chi — in your articles you have recommended no fewer than five times that even young women must master three major subjects through books: economics, politics, and history. Do you have recommended readings for these three areas? Please suggest a simple reading list to start — too many titles at once would be overwhelming.
Master Chi’s Response:
- Water Margin — original edition and Jin Shengtan’s annotated commentary edition
- Romance of the Three Kingdoms — original edition
- Dream of the Red Chamber — original edition
- Discourses on Salt and Iron (Yantielun)
- The Book of Lord Shang
- The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
- The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State
- The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money
- Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
- All classics by Benjamin Graham
- China’s Economic Gains and Losses Through the Dynasties
- History of the Aristocratic Clans of the Eastern Jin Dynasty
Work through these books, and you will have built a metaphysical foundation — a depth of understanding that crushes 99.99% of the so-called smart people you will encounter in the world.
One more thing: every book on this list requires at least two full readings before you can say you have read it, and three or four readings before you can say you actually understand it. That point matters.