《大學》與《中庸》原為《禮記》中的兩篇，唐代以前，這兩本典籍並不顯得特別重要，《大學》一書受到的青睞更少。唐中葉後，韓愈、李翱才擷取這兩書的重要論點，著論立說，《大學》、《中庸》乃自《禮記》中脫穎而出，慢慢的具備了經典的架勢。理學興起後，《中庸》、《大學》的地位終於沖天而起，儼然與群經並列排座。到了朱子，《大學》、《中庸》終於得和《論語》、《孟子》並列，成為儒家經典的核心，《四書》之名從此定了下來；而曾子與子思亦成為儒門道統中的關鍵人物。本文想探討《大學》與《中庸》到底提供了什麼樣的思想資源?理學家又如何從這兩本書汲取了思想的養分?它們才得以從「記」的地位躍升為儒家重要的典籍。本文初步認定其間最重要的轉換點乃是這兩本典籍變成了「性命之書」儒者性命之學的需求與這兩本典籍隱藏的心性論資源會合之後，這兩本典籍的性格脫胎換骨，記遂蟬蛻為經。底下，我們即探討它們「性命化」的過程。

The Great Learning was seldom mentioned by Confucians in Pre-Tang dynasties because it was regarded as a beginners' book on becoming a Confucian gentleman. The Doctrine of the Mean was occasionally mentioned by Buddhists and Taoists, but never by Confucians until the 9th century because it was regarded as a mixture of Confucianism and the Ying Yang school. Stimulated by Taoism and Buddhism, Neo-Confucians looked for Confucian Classics that could provide a theoretical basis for the idea of the unity of man and Heaven. They found strong support from these two chapters of The Book of Rites and made them two of the four new Confucian Classics( the Four Books). The canonization of the Four Books underwent a long and complicated process. The effort was first made by Han Yu and Li Ao in late Tang Dynasty and the mission was finally completed by Chu Hsi in the 12th century. Chu Hsi reinterpreted the theory of the investigation of things in light of his neo-Confucian philosophy. As a consequence, The Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean become classics unfolding the one principle-many manifestation theory.