Tongmengxun 童蒙訓

Tongmengxun 童蒙訓, also known as Lüshi tongmeng xun 呂氏童蒙訓 "Master Lü's guide to child enlightenment" or Xiyuan tongmeng xun 西垣童蒙訓, is a book on the education written during the Northern Song period 北宋 (960-1126) by Lü Benzhong 呂本中 (1084-1145), courtesy name Juren 居仁, style Donglai Xiansheng 東萊先生 or Ziwei 紫微, from Shouzhou 壽州 (today's Shouxian 壽縣, Anhui). Lü was the offspring of a long line of Confucian scholars and compiled books presenting the anecdotes and teachings from his teachers and friends on personal conduct, social interaction, studying, and governance, with the title Donglai Lü Ziwei shiyou zazhi 東萊呂紫微師友雜志. He is also known for a book on "instructions to state officials", Guanzhen 官箴.

His book Tongmengxun consists of 3 juan. It contains educational principles and exhortations to study diligently, making the work a suitable guide for early education. It was, therefore, widely used as a textbook in traditional family schools and presents insights into the educational practices of the upper class of ancient times. The book covers various aspects, such as self-cultivation, scholarly pursuits, and governance. It emphasises introspection and self-improvement (fanxing neiqiu 反省內求), and advocates learning from the past to reach higher achievements in the present. It encourages starting with petty matters of daily life and suggests proceeding with the elaboration of diligence. The text quotes from contemporary masters like Lü Xizhe 呂希哲 (1039-1116), the author's grandfather, or the famous scholar Lü Zuqian 呂祖謙 (1137-1181), the author's grandson.

The book extensively quotes esteemed Confucian scholars, expounds on fundamental moral teachings, collects various sayings from Lü's teachers and friends, and promotes discussions on righteousness and proper conduct.

Students should begin with the Confucian Classics Xiaojing 孝經 "Book on Filial piety", Lunyu 論語 "Analects of Confucius", Zhongyong 中庸 "The Doctrine of the Mean", Daxue 大學 "The Great Learning", and Mengzi 孟子 as the foundations of learning (known as Sishu 四書 "Four Books"), and then to explore the Classics Shijing 詩經 "Book of Song”, Shangshu 尚書 "Book of Documents", Yijing 易經 "Book of Changes", and Chunqiu 春秋 "Spring and Autumn Annals". By following this order, students would be able understand social life correctly. Having established this solid foundation, one can go on to read the teachings of the various schools of thought.

There is a surviving edition from the Shaoding reign-period 紹定 (1228-1233), as well as a reprint published by Tao Xiang 陶湘 (1871-1940, style Sheyuan 涉園) in 1925. Forty-two paragraphs of the text are included in the collection Song-Yuan xue'an 宋元學案.