175. 經子通

Ching1 tzu3 t'ung1

Classic philosopher pierce 

When the Classics and the Philosophers are mastered, 

Ching see title and line 167. 

Tzu see line 11. 

T'ung see line 131. 

176. 讀諸史

Tu2 chu1 shih3

Read all  historian 

the various histories should be read, 

Tu see line 134. 

Chu is composed of 言 yen words and 者 che (line 49). It is not necessary always to translate it rigorously; sometimes it is a mere sign of the plural. It also has various prepositional values, such as at, on, in, to, etc. 

Shih was composed, under its old form, of 又 yu hand (line 18) grasping 中 chung the middle (line 64), sc. impartiality. It is defined as one who records events, and was applied in early ages to the Grand Astrologer of the Court. 

177. 考世系 

K'ao3 shih4 hsi4

Examine generation connect

and the genealogical connections should be examined, 

K'ao is composed of 老 lao old (line 24) abbreviated, and an obsolete phonetic. It originally meant old; then it came to signify a dead father; now it is the common term for examination. 

Shih is composed of three 十 shih tens, thirty years being the Chinese estimate of the length of a generation of men. It is also used in the sense of mankind, the world. 

Hsi is 糸 ssu silk, with a dash at the top, and means to tie, to bind. [Eitel translates this line by "Searching their chapters on genealogy and their family records." But hsi has no such meaning as "records."] 

178. 知終始

Chih1 chung1 shih2 

Know end beginning

so that the end of one dynasty and the beginning of the next may be known. 

Chih see lines 28, 70. 

Chung see line 113. 

Shih see line 134. [Eitel continues "So as to know both the end and the beginning of history."]