Interpreting Intention through Meaning
Updated 2026-08-10
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
Interpreting Intention through Meaning is Mencius's proposed method for reading poetry, in which the reader uses the text and their own understanding to infer what the author intended rather than stopping at the literal words. Its core proposition is that interpretation is an active reconstruction across time, so the reader participates in producing meaning instead of receiving it passively. The key qualifier is textual constraint: the inference must be supported by evidence inside the text, otherwise it becomes free invention.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Literal pass: read carefully first in order to establish what the text itself actually says. - Intent hypothesis: form a specific guess about what the author was actually trying to do. - Evidence test: check the guess against internal evidence rather than against your own preference.
Anchor fast decisions
Texts are produced by intentions that are only partly encoded in the words, so a literal reading recovers less than the author meant. Reconstructing the intent requires the reader to supply context and hypotheses, which makes reading an active inference. The text then constrains those hypotheses, which is what separates interpretation from projection.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- zdic.nethttps://zdic.net/hans/%E4%BB%A5%E6%84%8F%E9%80%86%E5%BF%97verified
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