Explore traditional Confucian texts with dual-language presentations and scholarly tools. Features include original Chinese verses alongside English translations, sentence-level parsing for learning Classical Chinese, and a full-screen reader for an optimal reading experience.
1.9
August 29, 2026
• Book 2, Chapter 6: Our selections include the eleven most influential verses, among them the famous “A Cornered Vessel” and “On Spiritual Beings,” plus new encyclopedia entries. • New Supplement: Read “How to Use This App” for advice on studying the classics and learning Classical Chinese, plus an explanation of every tool in the app. (More: Supplements) • Daily Classic: A quote from the Four Books arrives each day as a notification, at the time you choose. (Settings: Quotes)
More$3.99
Scholar Pack
Includes traditional commentaries and advanced tools.
The Four Books are the Great Learning, the Discourses (or Analects), the Book of Mengzi, and the Doctrine of the Mean, presented in this app. Book One is complete, with new verses arriving monthly.
No, Four Books is ad-free. The app also does not require account creation or collect user data, ensuring a private and uninterrupted reading experience.
The free content includes 284 influential ancient verses, English translation, and basic encyclopedia access. English search functionality is also available for free.
The Scholar Pack is a one-time in-app purchase that unlocks all premium content, including the complete 804 verses, Classical Chinese text, traditional commentary, sentence-level parsing, and complete encyclopedia. Future content updates are included free.
New verses arrive in the app around the first of each month. The latest version is 1.3, last updated on March 4, 2026, indicating a commitment to regular content delivery and refinement.
Four Books is optimized for Apple devices, including iPhone and iPad. It is designed for iOS 26 with a fallback for iOS 18.
Yes, Four Books offers a dual-language presentation with original Chinese verses alongside English translations. A "sentence mode" toggle parses the language pairs line by line, aiding in learning Classical Chinese.
The app has a perfect rating of 5.0 stars from 3 ratings, suggesting very positive user sentiment among its current users.
