朱子集宋學之大成，著為《四書章句集注》。朱子歿未久，蒙元入主中國，有識之士多絕意仕進，隱逸山林，著書以終。其所讀之書，多為朱子之作；其所著之篇，亦多是研究朱子學說之心得。其中尤以《四書》類著述，最為重要。論者多以元儒《四書》類著述僅在發明疏釋朱子《四書章句集注》而已。實則元儒治學崇尚務實，其訂補朱子《集注》，多有所據，非僅依人為學，墨守舊說而已。元代《四書》類著作有其繼承之一面。也有其開創性之一端。今取元儒許謙為例，蓋許謙為金華學者，最得朱子之正傳，但細看其《讀四書叢說》一書，既有推尊朱子、發明朱子者；更有補充朱子、訂正朱子者。許謙如此治學成果，固然是他個人深造所得，尤其受他的老師王柏、金履祥的影響。本文將就元代《四書》類著述狀況、許謙生平與著述、許謙對朱子《四書章句集注》的因襲與開創等方面作多方探討，希能補正一般經學史輕忽元代的偏見，有助於元代《四書》學之深化。

Chu Hsi is the main scholar of Song Dynasty Confucian studies and his major writing is Collected Annotations on The Four Books. Soon after Chu Hsi died, the Mongolian Yuan ruled China. Most of the Han intellectuals were not willing to serve as officials. They lived in seclusion and spent their days writing books. They read Chu Hsi's writings and wrote most of their scholarly essays and books on Chu Hsi. The most important books these intellectuals wrote are the works on The Four Books. Many scholars thought the works on The Four Books of the Yuan Dynasty Confucian scholars only explained Chu Hsi’s Collected Annotations. In fact, the Yuan scholars were quite practical; they supplemented and revised Chu Hsi’s Collected Annotations based on supporting evidence without relying on other scholars' opinion or being limited to any hidebound explanation. The Yuan Dynasty works on The Four Books displayed both inheritance and new development. This article takes Yuan scholar Hsu Ch'ien as an example, because Hsu Ch'ien was a Jinhua scholar, a true successor to Chu Hsi. By examining Hsu Ch'ien’s Du Sishu Congshuo carefully, we discover that he not only esteemed and exalted Chu Hsi’s theory, but also supplemented and revised it. Hsu Ch'ien’s academic performance resulted not only from his in-depth studies, but also from his teachers’ influence, especially from Wang Bo and Jin Luxiang. I discuss from varied perspectives the Yuan Dynasty works on The Four Books, Hsu Ch'ien ’s life and his writings, and Hsu Ch'ien’s inheritance and development of Chu Hsi‘s Collected Annotations. I hope my research will make up for negligence of and prejudice against Yuan Dynasty researches in history of Confucian Classics Studies, and it will be helpful in enhancing the Yuan Dynasty Four Books studies.