Learn the vocabulary first
Start with the chisel-construct cycle, the DD sequence, and remainder. This is the shared language used across the corpus.
Read Methodology M →Human reading guide · 人类读者导读
Find your way through Self-as-an-End
The SAE corpus now contains more than 350 papers across eight broad domains and over forty named series and clusters. This page is not another catalogue. It is a map: where to begin, what must be read in order, and where you can safely follow your own question.
Current to the paper index on August 25, 2026.
Begin
Three good entry points
Methodology M remains the universal foundation and the recommended default. The other two doorways can make the framework easier to enter, but readers should return to Methodology M before following a specialist branch.
Start from the human question
Begin with the normative problem: when can a person exist as an end rather than as a means for a system? Then return to Methodology M for the shared vocabulary.
Read Foundation Paper 01 →See the whole structure
Use the dense framework reference alongside Methodology M when you prefer definitions, cross-links, and the full DD sequence before reading arguments.
Open the framework reference →You do not need to read all 350+ papers. Methodology M is enough orientation for most branches. After that, follow a question. Return to the foundation and methodology papers when a later paper uses a concept you want to inspect more closely.
Explore
Reading paths by interest
These are recommended routes, not claims that the corpus has only one correct order. Arrows indicate a useful dependency; commas indicate papers or branches that can be chosen independently.
Core SAE and subjecthood
Methodology M→Systems & Personhood→Internal Colonization→Complete Framework→Inter-Ontological→Institution
The shortest route to the framework's central normative argument and its move from the subject to relations and institutions.
Philosophy, ethics, and law
Methodology M→The First Critique→Critique of Ethics→Moral Law 0→Rights Prequel, Law I
Use this route for SAE's relation to Kant, one's own law, multi-subject morality, rights, and jurisprudence.
Mathematics and ZFCρ
Methodology M→ZFCρ I→II→III→continue sequentially through LXXIV
ZFCρ is the largest and most internally sequential series. The SAE Mathematics papers and applied prime pre-sieve are adjacent branches, not substitutes for the main sequence.
Cosmology and fundamental physics
Methodology M→Cosmo 0→Four Forces 0→Four Forces I→Mass I
For quantum, information, and black-hole questions, branch into QM I, Information Theory I, or Black Hole I.
Biology and medicine
Methodology M→Metabolic oncology, speech loss, eating disorders, or any Biology Note matched to your question
The ten Biology Notes are applications rather than a single cumulative argument. Read by topic. The Life Cycle Table is the more systematic biological sequence.
AI, LLMs, and human–AI symbiosis
Finding Remainders with AI→Human–AI Symbiosis→Epistemology I→AI I→AI Architecture I
This path separates using AI as a chisel from claims about AI subjectivity, emergence, memory, and alignment.
Cognition, learning, and psychology
Epistemology I–IV→Learning I–IV; then Introspection, Dreams & Anesthesia, or Psychoanalysis I
The epistemology and learning series are sequential. The psychology and self-with-self papers are thematic branches.
Institutions, power, rights, value, and economics
Inter-Ontological→Institution→Power Prequel, Rights Prequel, Value Prequel, Economics
These series share a question: how constructs coordinate subjects without replacing the subjects as ends.
Chinese philosophy and Buddhist interfaces
Methodology M→Daodejing I–IX, Zhuangzi I–IV, Buddhist Interface I–VI
Each cluster has its own internal order. They can be read independently of one another after the methodological overview.
History, anthropology, arts, and myth
Anthropology Prequel→Civilization History I→II→III→IV; or branch to Temporal Arts and Mythology
Civilization History is sequential. The arts and mythology papers are independent applications of chisel, construct, and remainder.
Orient
The corpus at a glance
The homepage preserves the complete corpus on one page. These eight domains describe its current top-level structure; the entry link is a useful doorway, not necessarily the first work chronologically.
| Domain | Main contents | Suggested entry |
|---|---|---|
| Foundation & Methodology | Six foundational papers, Methodology M-00 through M-X, and Epistemology I–IV. | Methodology M |
| Philosophy | Applied philosophy, Moral Law, Daodejing, Zhuangzi, Buddhist interfaces, aesthetics, metaphysics, and philosophy of science. | The First Critique |
| Mathematics | ZFCρ through Paper LXXIV, an applied prime pre-sieve, and the five-paper SAE Mathematics series. | ZFCρ I |
| Physics | Cosmology, Four Forces, Mass, quantum mechanics, black holes, information theory, and the Power, Rights, and Value theory clusters. | Cosmo 0 |
| Thermodynamics & Chemistry | Ten ZFCρ thermodynamics papers, from fluctuation absorption to the closing paper on self-reference and observation hierarchy. | Thermodynamics I |
| Biology | Ten medical and biological notes, evolutionary applications, and the three-part Periodic Table of Life. | Biology Note 1 |
| Human Disciplines | Anthropology, law, war, psychology, language, AI, learning, development, arts, mythology, and civilization history. | Anthropology Prequel |
| Dialogues | Da Zhi Asks Zi Lu: dialogic demonstrations of the chisel-construct cycle in live inquiry. | Dialogue I |
Need a title, concept, DOI, or Chinese keyword rather than a route?
Search the full paper libraryRead well
What should be read in order?
The numbering system does not always imply the same kind of dependency. Use these three reading modes.
Read sequentially
ZFCρ, Epistemology, Moral Law, Daodejing, Zhuangzi, Quantum Mechanics, Information Theory, Thermodynamics, Learning, and Civilization History develop cumulative arguments. Begin at the first paper unless a later paper explicitly says it is standalone.
Begin with the prequel, then branch
Power, Rights, Value, Anthropology, and Four Forces provide a prequel or zero paper before opening into narrower questions. Read that framing paper first, then follow the branch that matches your question.
Choose by question
Biology Notes, applied philosophy, psychology, individual philosopher studies, temporal arts, mythology, and many thought experiments are designed to be entered through the topic itself.
Read bilingually
Language and reference access
Most papers provide English and Chinese versions through tabs at the top of the paper page; a smaller number are English-only. If a translated phrase seems structurally important, compare both versions. For machine reading, use llms.txt for orientation and papers.json for the flat metadata index. The complete human- and machine-readable corpus remains on the homepage.