Shushigaku put the most emphasis on studying four particular books of the Classics, known as the Four Books, also known in Japanese as 'Shisho', instead of the Classics as a whole, which had a long history and did not allow for much new interpretation.
朱子学が最も重視したのは、古い歴史をもち、勝手な解釈の入る余地の少ない経書そのものではなく、「四書」と呼ばれる四つの書物であった。