“This is a book about reading written by someone who has read many books. The author’s vision, thought, viewpoints, and wisdom are all related to his extensive reading, and all of this also becomes the foundation of his eye and method for choosing, criticizing, and praising books. Although this book is a summary of one person‘s reading experience, I believe it will guide and help many readers. I am happy to recommend it.” — Mo Yan, writer, Nobel Prize laureate in Literature

“Life has goals, progress has methods, and choice is most important. Do you grope forward on your own, or stand on the shoulders of giants? The author hopes to merge these two paths into one, opening a unique path that is both independent and inclusive. See how he gained wisdom and courage from classic reading that changes lives, and drew a cognitive map for life. It will surely inspire you!” — Luo Zhenyu, founder of Dedao App

“Humanity’s accumulated knowledge has long piled up like a mountain. Diligence alone cannot finish reading it, and it is easy to get lost. But through careful sorting and selection, connecting underlying logic, and building a cognitive system, you too can master this book. This is a repeatedly polished, heartfelt work worth your time.” — He Gang, Editor-in-Chief of Caijing, Editor-in-Chief of Harvard Business Review Chinese Edition

★ Dr. Chi Yufeng started from scratch and founded Hongen Education, Perfect World Games, Perfect World Pictures, and Quanzhishi. Their business covers over 100 countries and regions. He distilled human patterns observed from managing tens of thousands of employees and serving hundreds of millions of users into the core framework of this book.
★ Recommended by Mo Yan (Nobel Prize laureate in Literature), Luo Zhenyu (founder of Dedao App), and He Gang (editor-in-chief of Caijing).
★ The book proposes the “Book Mountain Map” and “Human Civilization Building” model. It uses 15 book lineages—philosophy, psychology, economics, history, natural sciences, and more—to build a cognitive framework, selects 88 core works, and sets 81 contemporary real-world topics to connect classic ideas with today‘s challenges. 34 progress methods cover efficient reading, dialectical thinking, and knowledge transformation.
★ It answers a fundamental question: in an age of information overload, how can we read not to know more fragments, but to become truly wiser and apply that wisdom to real life?

This series includes 2 books:
“The Panorama of Books: A Map to Happiness, Success, and Wealth”
“The Human Panorama: Spring People, Mental Gymnastics, and Progress”

The book unfolds through two core metaphors: the “Book Mountain Map” and the “Human Civilization Building” model. The author compares humanity‘s core knowledge system to a grand building, with 15 clear book lineages—such as philosophy, psychology, economics, history, and natural sciences—as the structural steel beams. The 88 core works selected along these lineages are the key components that build the floors and walls.

The book first systematically explains how these 15 lineages interconnect and together explain the historical logic of how the world runs, its current contradictions, and future trends. It helps readers understand how different disciplines intertwine to shape our social, technological, and cultural reality.

Then, through the 88 core works, it sets 81 contemporary topics that guide readers to actively apply the newly built knowledge framework to analysis and thinking. For example, how can economic principles help understand current market fluctuations? How can a historical perspective help view international conflicts? This design forces readers into interdisciplinary thinking, integrating classic theory with living reality.

Finally, the book provides 34 concrete progress methods—the “thinking tools” the author distilled from extensive reading and entrepreneurial practice—covering how to read efficiently, how to think dialectically, and how to turn knowledge into decisions and actions. They ensure that after building a cognitive framework, readers can continuously optimize and use it to meet most challenges in career and personal growth.

“There are many books in the world, but not many worth reading.” True reading freedom is not infinitely owning books, but clearly knowing which ideas truly define your world. This book answers a fundamental question: in an age of information overload, how can we read not to know more fragments, but to become truly wiser and apply wisdom to real life?

Dr. Chi Yufeng
·Practice Professor, Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University
·Course Professor, x-lab, Tsinghua University
·Doctor of Business Administration, Singapore Management University
·Doctor of Business Administration, University of Minnesota
·Bachelor of Chemistry, Tsinghua University
·Founder of Hongen Education, Perfect World Pictures, Perfect World Games, Zongheng Chinese Network, and Quanzhishi
He founded Hongen Education and developed educational software such as Creating the World and Everything Worry-Free; in recent years, he launched apps including Hongen Literacy and Hongen Children’s English, and the animated series Cosmic Guard. He founded Perfect World Games, whose titles such as Perfect World and Zhu Xian are widely acclaimed and have long ranked among China’s top game exports. He founded Perfect World Pictures, which produced award-winning films including The Piano in a Factory and Love Is Not Blind. He founded Quanzhishi (formerly Quanlishi), which uses AI knowledge graphs to present panoramic humanities and social science knowledge.
He has received honors including 2012 China Cultural Industry Person of the Year, 2014 China Internet Person of the Year, 2016 Chinese Economic Person of the Year, and 2019 Internet Economy Person of the Year.