The Mingjing Section of the imperial examination system tests the candidates' ability to memorize the Confucian classics. May I ask what the Confucian classics refer to?

The Confucian Classics mainly refer to the Thirteen Confucian Classics. The Thirteen Classics are the basic works of Confucian culture. As far as the traditional concept is concerned, Yi, Poetry, Book, Rites and Spring and Autumn Annals are called "Jing", Zuo Zhuan, Gongyang Zhuan and Gu Liang Zhuan belong to the "Biography" of "Spring and Autumn Annals", and Rites, Filial Piety, and The Analects of Confucius are the "Book of Rites", which is the most important book of Confucianism. The Book of Rites, the Book of Filial Piety, the Analects of Confucius, the Mencius are "records", "Er Ya" is the Han Dynasty, the exegetical work of the scribe. These thirteen kinds of literature, when the "scripture" status is the highest, "biography", "remember" second, "Er Ya" and second.

Thirteen Confucian literature to achieve the status of "scripture", after a long period of time. In the Han Dynasty, the "Yi", "poetry", "book", "ritual", "Spring and Autumn Annals" for the "five scriptures", the official quite important, set up in the school officials. In the Tang Dynasty, there were "Nine Classics", which were also set up in the school officials and were used to take students. The so-called "Nine Classics" included "Yi", "Poetry", "Book", "Zhouli", "Rites", "Rites" and "Spring and Autumn Annals". Tang Wenzong Kai Cheng years in the state school engraved stone, the engraved content in addition to the "nine classics", but also to benefit from the "Analects of Confucius", "Er Ya", "Xiaojing". Five Dynasties, Shu Lord Meng Chang engraved "eleven scriptures", excluding "Xiao Jing", "Er Ya", the income "Mengzi", "Mengzi" for the first time among the list of scriptures. Zhu Xi, a Confucian scholar of the Southern Song Dynasty, juxtaposed the University of the Book of Rites and the Medieval Times with the Analects of Confucius and Mencius, forming what is known today as the Four Books, which were officially recognized, and Mencius formally became a "scripture". Thus, the thirteen Confucian literature established its classical status. Qing Qianlong period, engraved with "Thirteen scriptures" in stone, Ruan Yuan and co-engraved "Thirteen scriptures," from now on, "Thirteen scriptures" and its revered position in the Confucian canon more y rooted in people's hearts.

The content of the "Thirteen Classics" is extremely broad, "Zhouyi" is the book of divination, the outer layer of its mysterious, and the underlying philosophy to the deepest. The Shangshu is a compilation of ancient historical documents, the main content of the king's documents and records of the conversation between the king and his ministers. The Book of Songs is a collection of poems from the beginning of the Western Zhou Dynasty to the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, which is divided into three parts, namely, "Winds", "Elegance" and "Songs". The "Winds" are the songs of the local winds, and the "Elegance" is the elegant music of the Western Zhou kings. The "Ode" is a dance and song for the rituals of the upper class in the ancestral temples of the Zhou Dynasty. The Rites of the Zhou (Zhouli) is a compilation of the official system of the Zhou royal family and the systems of the Warring States period. The Rites of Passage is a record of the rituals of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. The Book of Rites is a compilation of treatises on various rituals before the Qin and Han Dynasties. The three biographies of the Spring and Autumn Annals are writings formed around the Spring and Autumn Annals, with the Zuo Zhuan focusing on the presentation of historical events, and the Gongyang Zhuan and Guliang Zhuan focusing on discussion. The Analects is a record of the words and deeds of Confucius and his disciples. The Classic of Filial Piety is a treatise on feudal filial piety. Mengzi (Mencius) is devoted to the words, thoughts and deeds of Mencius. Er Ya" is a book that explains the meaning of words and interprets names and objects, and is used by many scholars as a basis for interpreting the scriptures.

Confucian culture was dominant in the feudal era, and the Thirteen Classics, as the classics of Confucian culture, were incomparable to any other texts in terms of their status and influence. The supreme ruler not only looked for guidelines and plans for ruling the country and leveling the world, but also followed the Confucian classics in regulating the thoughts of his subjects, establishing ethics and morals, and orienting the people's customs and traditions. The influence of the Confucian classics on society was ever-present and omnipresent. To understand and study all aspects of Chinese feudal society, one cannot help but read the Thirteen Classics.

The five Confucian classics refer to the Book of Changes, the Book of Changes, the Book of Poetry, the Book of Rites, and the Spring and Autumn Annals. The establishment of the Doctor of the Five Classics in the fifth year of the Jianyuan reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (136 B.C.E.) established the honored status of the Confucian classics. The Yi, also known as the Zhou Yi, consists of two parts: the Jing and the Chuan. The part of the Jing*** 64 hexagrams, each hexagram six lines. The hexagrams and lines **** about 5000 words, probably compiled in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty. It is not only extremely important for understanding the philosophical thinking and social life of the Yin and Zhou dynasties, but also preserves some rather rare Shang and Zhou historical materials. The biography of Yi, including the Department of rhetoric, say Gua and other ten parts, formerly known as the "ten wings", was written by the Eastern Zhou Dynasty for the interpretation of the part of the "Yi" scripture. The Shangshu is a compilation of royal enjoinments, oaths, and writings tracing the history of ancient times in China. Initially only generalized as "book", then divided into Xia, Shang, Zhou book, and later called "Shangshu", meaning the book of the ancient times. At the time of the Qin and Han Dynasties, "Shangshu" more dead, the only Qin Dr. Jinan Fusheng wall hidden books. At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, Fusheng sought to obtain the book, the survival of 28 articles, taught in the Qilu between. This "Shangshu" to the Han Dynasty prevailing LiShu written, so called "today's text Shangshu". In addition, the Han Dynasty also has the Ancient Book of the Shangshu, which is said to have 16 more articles than the Modern Book of the Shangshu. Poetry, also known as the Classic of Poetry. At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, Poetry was taught by Qi, Lu and Han, all of which were established in the school officials. Mao Gong also taught it, but it was not established. Later, the poems of the three families died out, and Mao Poetry was passed on alone, so the Poetry was also called the Mao Poetry. Today, 305 poems exist in the Poetry, each of which was written at different times, as early as the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty and as late as the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period. Poetry not only has high artistic value, but also is a precious material to understand the social landscape of pre-Qin Dynasty. Rites" refers to "Rites of Passage" in Han Dynasty, and "Rites of Passage" in later times. The Rites of Passage is a compilation of ceremonial systems from the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States Periods. In the Han Dynasty, there were Dai De Ben, Dai Sheng Ben, and Liu Xiang's Bie Lu Ben. The Book of Rites is a Confucian exposition of the rites compiled by the Western Han Dynasty, divided into the Xiaodai Rites and the Daidai Rites. The 49 articles compiled by Dai Sheng and annotated by Zheng Xuan are the Xiaodai Rites, and the 85 articles compiled by Dai De are known as the Daidai Rites. The Spring and Autumn Annals is the chronicle of the state of Lu. It recorded historical events according to the year, time, month and day, and represented the four seasons with spring and autumn, so it was called "Spring and Autumn". The existing Spring and Autumn Annals cover the period from the first year of the reign of Duke Yin of Lu (722 BC) to the fourteenth year of the reign of Duke Ai of Lu (481 BC), and it covers 242 years of historical events. Although the text is brief, it has its own opinions and evaluations of the political events of the time. Later generations made notes on it, and those that have been handed down include Zuo Zhuan, Gongyang Zhuan, and Gu Liang Zhuan.

The Four Books are Confucian classics, and Zhu Xi, a scholar of the Southern Song Dynasty, took the two texts of the Book of Rites, the University and the Meanwhile, and combined them with the Analects of Confucius and the Works of Mencius into the Four Books. It is said that they are from the four representative figures of early Confucianism, Zeng Sen, Zi Si, Confucius, and Mencius, so they are called the Four Books of the Four Sons (also known as the Four Sons), or simply the Four Books. After that, the Four Books were included in the examinations for the imperial examinations in all the subsequent dynasties, thus creating the unique status of the Four Books. Even after the Song Dynasty, the Four Books have overridden the status of the Five Classics.

Southern Song Guangzong Shaoxi far years (1190 years), when the famous scholar Zhu Xi in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, the University of the Analects of Confucius, Mencius, the Meanwhile, together, as a set of scriptures published in the world. This great Confucian scholar believed that "first read the University to set its scale; second read the Analects to set its fundamentals; second read the Mencius to see its development; second read the Meanwhile to seek the subtleties of the ancients". And once said, "the four children", "six scriptures" of the ladder "(Zhu Zi class") Zhu Xi wrote "four books chapter and sentence set of notes", with epoch-making significance. Han and Tang is the era of the "Five Classics", after the Song is the "Four Books" era.

"Four Books" refers to the "Analects of Confucius", "Mencius", "Meanwhile", "University" four books. Among them, "Analects" and "Mencius" are collections of remarks by Confucius, Mencius and their students respectively, while "The University" and "The Mean" are two of the "Book of Rites". It was Zhu Xi, a famous scholar of the Southern Song Dynasty, who first organized them together. However, before Zhu Xi, Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi brothers have been strongly advocating these books. They think, "university" is Confucius taught "the door into the virtue of the primary school" of the book, by the Confucius students ZengSen collated into a text; "mediocrity" is "Confucius teach the law of the heart" of the book, is the Confucius grandson ZiShi "pen of the book, to teach MengZi" of the book, "the book, the book, the book. It was written by Confucius' grandson, Zisi, who "penned the book of his son to teach it to Mencius". These two books, together with the Analects of Confucius and Mencius, express the basic ideology of Confucianism, and are the most important documents for the study of Confucianism. It is on the basis of such a viewpoint that Zhu Xi compiled the four books together, namely, the Analects, the Mencius, the University, and the Meanings. Because they were written by four representative figures of early Confucianism, Confucius, Zeng Sen, Zi Si, and Mencius, they were called the "Four Books of the Four Sons", or simply the "Four Books". Zhu Xi made commentaries on these four books, of which the commentaries on the University and the Meanwhile are called "chapters and verses", and the commentaries on the Analects and the Mencius are called "set commentaries" because they cite the sayings of others more often. It is worth noting that the order of the Four Books compiled by Zhu Xi was originally University, Analects, Mencius, and the Meanwhile, which were arranged in the order of advancement from the superficial to the profound. Later, because of the shorter length of the "University" and "Medievalism", for the convenience of engraving and publishing, and the "Medievalism" was mentioned before the "Analects", and became the now prevailing order of the "University", "Medievalism", "Analects", and "Mencius".

As Zhu Xi annotated the "Four Books" both the integration of the doctrine of the former, but also his own unique insights, cut in the world; and because of Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi brothers and Zhu Xi as the representative of the "Cheng Zhu rationale," the status of the increasing, so, Zhu Xi died, the court will be his compilation of annotations of the "Four Books" finalized for the official book, and from then on prevailed up to the Yuan Dynasty. From then on the prevalence of up, to the Yuan Dynasty Yanyou years (1314 - 1320) to restore the imperial examinations, formally restricted the scope of the question in Zhu note "four books" within the Ming and Qing dynasty followed and derived from the "eight-legged essay" examination system, the topic is also in Zhu note "four books The topics are also in Zhu's Four Books. Because of these factors, the Four Books not only became an important classic of Confucianism, but also became the required reading for every reader, and became the standardized elementary school textbook until modern times. Therefore, some people compare the Four Books with the Bible in the West and consider it the "Bible" of the East. In fact, in terms of its wide circulation and its profound influence on the psychological forging of the Chinese personality, this comparison is not at all exaggerated.

The Pentateuch is a collective name for the five ancient classical books that served as the basis for the study of Confucianism, and it is rumored that they were all edited or revised by Confucius, one of the founders of Confucianism. Confucianism originally had six sutras, which were the Book of Poetry, the Book of Shang, the Rites of Passage, the Book of Music, the Book of Zhou Yi, and the Spring and Autumn Annals.

Qin Shi Huang "burning books and burying scholars", it is said that by the Qin torch, "Le Jing" has been lost, the Eastern Han Dynasty on this basis, plus the "Analects of Confucius", "Filial Piety", *** seven; Tang Dynasty, plus the "Zhouli", "Rituals", "Spring and Autumn Gongyang Chuan", "Spring and Autumn Valley Liang Chuan", "Er Ya", *** twelve scriptures; Song Dynasty, plus "Mengzi", followed by Song engraving Mencius", after the Song engraved "Thirteen Classic Notes and Remarks" has been passed down. The "Thirteen Classics" are the basic works of Confucian culture, in terms of traditional concepts, "Yi", "Poetry", "Book", "Rites", "Spring and Autumn Annals" is called "Jing", "Zuo Zhuan", "Gongyang Zhuan", "Guliang Zhuan" belongs to the "Spring and Autumn Annals" of the "transmission", "Zuo Zhuan", "Gongyang Zhuan", "Guliang Zhuan" belongs to the "Spring and Autumn Annals" of "Biography", "Book of Rites", "Scripture of Filial Piety", "Analects", "Mencius" are "records", "Er Ya" is the exegetical work of the Han Dynasty scribes. The later Pentateuch refers to: Zhouyi, Shangshu, Shijing, Rituals, and Zuozhuan.

The "Five Classics" refers to the five parts of the Book of Poetry, the Book of Changes, the Book of Rites, the Book of Changes, and the Spring and Autumn Annals. The Book of Songs is the earliest collection of poetry in China, containing 305 poems of the Zhou Dynasty. Originally known as "Poetry" or "Poetry 300", the Han Dynasty Confucians began to call "Poetry". The existing Poetry Classic was handed down by Mao Heng in the Han Dynasty, so it is also called "Mao Poetry".

It is said that the poems in the Classic of Poetry were all lyrics that could be sung at that time. According to the nature of the music, it can be divided into wind, elegance and ode. The "Winds" include Zhou Nan, Zhaonan, Name Wind, Yong Semi Wind, Wei Wind, Wang Wind, Qi Wind, Wei Wind, Tang Wind, Qin Wind, Chen Wind, Juni Wind, Cao Wind and Bin Wind, which are called the fifteen national winds, most of which are folk songs of the Yellow River Valley, and a small part of which are works processed by the nobles, ****160 pieces. The "elegance" comprises the minor elegance and the major elegance,**** 105 pieces. The "elegance" is basically the work of the aristocrats, and only a part of the "small elegance" is from the folk. The "Songs" include the Songs of the Zhou, the Songs of the Lu, and the Songs of the Shang, ****40 pieces. Ode is the lyrics used by the court for rituals. Generally speaking, the ballads from the folk were lively and vivid, while the poems of the court nobles were dwarfed by those of the court nobles and had little poetic flavor. The Book of Songs is the source of Chinese rhyming literature and the glorious starting point of Chinese poetic history. It takes various forms: epics, satires, narratives, love songs, war songs, odes, festival songs, and labor songs. It is rich in content, reflecting all aspects of social life in the Zhou Dynasty, such as labor and love, war and corvée, oppression and resistance, customs and marriage, ancestor worship and banquets, and even celestial phenomena, landforms, animals and plants. It can be said that the Book of Songs is a mirror of the Zhou society. The language of the Book of Songs is the most important source for the study of the Chinese language from the 11th century BC to the 6th century BC.

Shangshu, meaning "book of the past", is a compilation of ancient Chinese historical documents and some of the works tracing ancient events. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period, it was called "Book", and in the Han Dynasty, it was renamed "Shangshu". Confucianism honors it as a classic, so it is also known as the Book of Books. It is said that there were originally one hundred articles in the Shangshu, but after the burning of the books in the Qin Dynasty, only twenty-nine articles were collected in the early Han Dynasty, and they were written in the official script that was commonly used at that time, which was called the Shangshu in the modern language. Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, from the former residence of Confucius found written in ancient script "Shangshu", than the present "Shangshu" more than sixteen, known as the ancient text "Shangshu", the sixteen soon lost. Jin people forged the ancient text of the "Shangshu" twenty-five, and from the present text of the "Shangshu" analyzed several, together with the original present text of the "Shangshu" *** for 58, also known as the ancient text of the "Shangshu". The "Shangshu" in the "Thirteen Classic Commentaries" is the "Shangshu" in this ancient language which was operated by the Jin people. The Shangshu includes the books of Yu, Xia, Shang and Zhou. The Book of Yu and the Book of Xia were not written at the time of Yu and Xia, but were false works written by later Confucians based on ancient rumors. The Book of Shang is a collection of oaths, orders, instructions, and enjoinments recorded by the historians of the Yin dynasty, of which the Tang Oath should be the earliest work according to the times, but the language of this text is fluent, and it may have been embellished by later generations. The three texts of Pan Geng are ancient and difficult to read, and have retained more of their original appearance. This is the Yin King Pan Geng moved to the capital of the speech record of the subjects, although the language is ancient, but the Pan Geng speech when the abundant feelings, sharp talk, or can feel, such as he said: non-Yu from the deserted Zide, but you contain the virtue, not wary of giving a person. I if you watch the fire, I also Cercerca, made to escape. If the net is in the outline, it is organized and unorganized; if the farmer is in the field of harvest, it is also in the autumn. （In a short passage, three metaphors are used, which are apt, vivid and figurative. The idiom of "being organized" is still used today. Another example is Pan Geng's warning to his ministers not to incite the people to oppose the relocation of the capital, saying that it would be "like a fire that starts a prairie fire and cannot be extinguished near by", which would be uncontrollable, which is also a very vivid metaphor. The Book of Zhou includes documents from the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty to the early Spring and Autumn Period. Among them, "The Oath of the Herdsman" is the words of the oath of King Wu's expedition to conquer the Zhou Dynasty, "Doshi" is the words of the Duke of Zhou's admonition to the survivors of Yin with the king's order, and "Wuyi" is the words of the Duke of Zhou's admonition to the King of Cheng not to be greedy for enjoyment. The narrative of these works is clear and expresses the emotional tone of the characters. Written in the early Spring and Autumn period, the Qin Oath is a word of remorse and self-reproach after the failure of Duke Mu of Qin to attack Jin, expressing the feelings of remorse and sorrow, and the article reads as follows: Ancient people have said: "The people are finished if it is a lot of plates." Blame the people is not difficult, but be blamed to be like a stream, is but hard! My heart's concern, the sun and the moon, if the cloud to come! He quoted the words of the ancients, pointing out that if one thinks he is right, he will do many evil things, and painfully explained that it is easy to blame others, but it is very difficult to accept admonition, which was written in a very evocative manner. It is much more fluent than the text of the Shang Shu and the early Zhou Dynasty, marking the further development of prose at that time. The Shangshu is the oldest compilation of essays in China. The language used in the Yin-Shang and early Zhou parts is very different from the ancient Chinese of the Qin and Han Dynasties, and it is very difficult to read because of its long history and errors in writing. Han Yu said, "The Zhou enjoins the Yin pan, difficult to pronounce" ("Explanation of Progress in Learning"). But leaving aside the obstacles of words, the expression of emotions is actually simple and brief. As the people who published those words were of high status, they spoke with a condescending confidence. For posterity, the Gu'ao is a special kind of beauty, rustic and confident, and shows the strength of conquest. Therefore, the articles of the Shangshu were highly esteemed. Han dynasty "shangshu dazhuan" cited Zixia language, said the "Zhao Zhao such as the sun and moon of the generation of bright, away from the wrong line if the senator", is also feeling it. However, here there is also the ancient psychological blame.

"Zhouli", also known as "Zhou Guan" or "Zhou Guan Jing", it is one of the classics of Confucianism. Confucianism takes the Poetry, the Book, the Rites, the Yi, the Music, and the Spring and Autumn Annals as the Six Classics. When Confucius took on disciples to give lectures, he chose these canonical texts as his teaching materials. However, there was already a big difference between the rituals and music taught by Confucius and the old rituals and music that were rich in ghosts and gods and superstitions. He believed that the teaching of music would make people "broad and easy to learn" and that the teaching of rituals would make people "respectful, thrifty and honorable" (see Rituals and Rituals - The Explanation of the Scriptures). Confucius also said, "If you don't learn the rites, you can't stand on your own two feet." （In Confucius' view, if one does not learn the rites, there is no basis for establishing oneself in society. Therefore, it is necessary to "establish oneself in the rites" ("Lunyu - Tai Bo"). Rites cover a wide range of topics, from national rules and regulations to personal codes of conduct. Nowadays, the books of rites we can see are the Zhou Li, the Yi Li and the Li Ji. The Zhou Li is about the official system of the Zhou Dynasty, the Yili is about various ceremonial rites and rituals (e.g., specific ceremonies such as crowns, marriages, funerals, sacrifices, etc.), and the Li Ji is a record of Confucius' students as well as later generations who practiced the Book of Rites, which deals with the nature, significance, and role of rites. The name "Three Rites" came into being after Zheng Xuan, a scholar of the Eastern Han Dynasty, annotated the Rites of Passage and the Records of Rites respectively. "All three rites are related to Confucius' idea of rites, but only the Rites of Passage (17 chapters) were organized and compiled by Confucius. The Zhou Rites are a compilation of the official systems of the Zhou royal family and the systems of the countries of the Warring States period, supplemented by Confucian political ideals, added to, subtracted from, and compared with each other. Since China entered a slave society as early as the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, and the Zhou Dynasty was the heyday of slave society, the Zhou Rites is the earliest and most complete record of China's official system, and also one of the most complete records of the official system in the ancient times of the world. The whole book is divided into 6 parts, i.e., "Tsukazai, the Heavenly Official", "Situ, the Earthly Official", "Zongbo, the Spring Official", "Sima, the Summer Official", "Sikou, the Autumn Official", and "Sikong, the Winter Official", which are divided into upper and lower volumes, and **** 12 volumes. These 6 articles in the "winter official Sikong" early anonymous, to the Han Dynasty supplemented with "Kao Gong Ji". Why was the "Zhouli" made, when the product? Historically, there is also a debate. Ancient scripturists believe that it is Zhou Gongdan. Today's classicists believe that it is out of the Warring States, and some people believe that it is the end of the Western Han Dynasty Liu Xin forged. Recent people from the Zhou Qin bronze inscriptions contained in the official system, reference to the book of political and economic systems and academic thinking, most people think it is the work of the Warring States period. Some people also think, "Zhou Li" in the early Han Dynasty. Zhouli" book, Zheng Xuan in the Eastern Han Dynasty wrote "Zhouli Note", the Tang Dynasty Jia Gongyan made "Zhouli Justice", Sun Yijiang in the Qing Dynasty also wrote "Zhouli Justice", these notes on the study of the "Zhouli" provides reference material. The supreme ruler of the Zhou dynasty was Zhou Tianzi, who was the general representative of the slave-owning aristocracy. The great officials who assisted the King of Zhou were rumored to be the three dukes, Tai Shi, Tai Fu and Tai Bao. At the time of King Cheng, the Duke of Zhou was the Master and the Duke of Zhao was the Bao. "Phase the royal family to Yin the world". The Duke of Zhou's son, Bo Dou, also served as the King of Zhou's teacher and guarantor. In the inscriptions of the Duke of Zhou and the Duke of Zhou's Yi, the King of Zhou ordered him to "serve the four quarters of the world with three affairs, and to be served by the ministers of Laos". The term "three affairs" is a general term for three kinds of official positions, i.e., government officials, affairs officials and magistrates. The "Four Directions" referred to the Four Directions of the lords and tribes. The "ministers of affairs" were the large and small bureaucrats in the government of the Zhou Dynasty. Under the King of Zhou and his division, the highest official positions in the court were the ministers, i.e., tai zai, tai zong, tai shi, tai zhu, tai shi, tai bu, collectively known as the six ministers. The six ministers were often on the right and left of the king of Zhou. The three left were Tai Shi, Tai Zhu, and Tai Bu; the three right were Tai Zai, Tai Zong, and Tai Shi. They stood on both sides of the King of Zhou in the court and assisted the King of Zhou in dealing with political affairs. In the Zhou dynasty, "the major events of the state were in the rituals and ron", so most of the six ministers were closely related to religious affairs. The Duke of Zhou's son, Bo Biao, was also the biggest sacrificial official. Tai Bu was in charge of divination, and was in the position of mediator between man and god. Taishi was also a divine official. The position of tai shi was the book of records since the Shang Dynasty, and in the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, Bi Gonggao served as tai shi and was called "Bi Gong, the Book of Records". Taizi was probably the chief administrator of the court. Taizong was in charge of the clan and genealogy of the Zhou Dynasty, which was also an important position. The six ministers also had many subordinates, each with their own specialized duties, so they were called ministers. In addition to the Six Ministers, the Zhou Dynasty also had five officials: Situ, Sima, Sikong, Situ, and Sikou. Situ was written as "Si Tu" in the bronze inscriptions of the early Zhou Dynasty, and was responsible for the management of land and agricultural production. Sikong was written as "Sigong" in the inscriptions, and was responsible for the management of all kinds of work. Sima was an official in charge of military affairs. The powers of Situ, Sima and Sikong were equal, and they were collectively called "three departments". The status of Situ, Sima and Sikong was equal to that of the Three Departments, and together they were called the "Three Departments", while that of Situ was in charge of titles and salaries, and that of Sikou was in charge of penalties. There were also many bureaucratic subordinates under these five departments, such as those belonging to Sima's division, Huchen and those specializing in horse management, constituting a specialized bureaucratic system and group. In addition to these, there were also other officials, such as those who managed mountains, forests, rivers and streams, those who managed the market for goods and bribes, those who managed the nobility's food, clothing and recreation, who were "guarded by the government departments," that is, the specialized officials. These various officials were mostly specialists in the administration of the mountains, forests, rivers, and rivers. Most of these various officials were hereditary, enjoying a special and sacrosanct status from generation to generation. The Zhou Dynasty practiced the feudal system, and in the four directions of the Zhou King's direct dominion, there were many feudal states, so it was called "the four directions", which specifically referred to the vassals of the Zhou Dynasty, such as Hou, Dian, Men, etc., which were the local authorities of the Zhou Dynasty. Some big country vassal by the king of Zhou granted the privilege, can mobilize the nearby small and medium-sized vassals, engaged in conquest, defending the son of Zhou, become the square uncle, square uncle is a side of the vassal's head, not the vassal's title. Some vassals were also royal officials, and thus had the title of minister, such as the Duke of Zhou and the Duke of Zhao. The so-called "male, marquis, uncle, son, male" of the five title system, whether it is the Shang dynasty or the Western Zhou Dynasty, does not exist, is the result of the processing of later generations. The bureaucracy and system of the Zhou Dynasty, in general, it is from the Shang Dynasty, "internal service" and "external service" two sets of official development, but the Zhou Dynasty's institutions are more huge, the system is also more systematic. The officials of the same dynasty were aristocrats and clansmen, a trinity, and it was this patriarchal system of blood ties that constituted the ruling system of the slave-owning aristocracy headed by the King of Zhou. Until the feudal society, the bureaucracy and system of the Zhou Dynasty still had its influential role. The Rites of Zhou also contains historical information on ancient religions, economic policies, philosophy and ethics, and is an important cultural text that focuses on Confucianism and incorporates the ideas of Legalism and the Five Elements of Yin-Yang.

The I Ching is regarded as the first of all the sutras and one of the three mysteries among the classic works of traditional Chinese culture. The I Ching, also known as the Zhou Yi, is the Yi of the Zhou Dynasty, which was designated by Confucius as one of the five sutras, with a total of 24,070 characters. Divided into two parts of the book and the biography. Ten wings for the elucidation of the Book of Changes and made, so it is called Chuan. It is the overlap of gossip into the sixty-four hexagrams as a structural framework, the Chinese people in the ancient times, summarize the experience of life and production experience, with abstract symbols recorded, and further analysis of the way of yin and yang changes, explaining all the phenomena in the universe, through the divination of hexagrams to the revelation of heavenly, terrestrial, humane laws of change.

The Spring and Autumn Annals was originally a common name for the history books of countries in the pre-Qin era, and then only Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals was passed down to the world, so it became a special name. This was originally compiled by the Lu historians "Spring and Autumn Annals", according to legend, after the Confucius finishing, revised, given a special meaning, and thus also become an important Confucian classics. The Spring and Autumn Annals is the ancestor of China's chronicles, which begins with the twelve dukes of the state of Lu, and ends in the 14th year of the reign of Duke Ai of Lu (48 BC), recording the history of the country over the course of two hundred and forty-two years. It is a compendium-type record, with very short sentences and almost no descriptive elements. However, its language expression is characterized by strictness and refinement, reflecting the progress of writing skills. The most prominent feature of the Spring and Autumn Annals is the "Spring and Autumn writing style", which combines praise and blame in the account. According to legend, Confucius judged some historical events and characters according to his own point of view, and chose the words he thought were appropriate to imply praise and blame, so the Spring and Autumn Annals was regarded by the later generations as a classic with "subtle words", a model for defining names and making laws and regulations. Moreover, it had a great influence on the writing of history and literature. Historians have realized that history should have a strict and clear tendency, and literary scholars tend to appreciate the simplicity of words and phrases and the profoundness of meaning. Of course, deliberately seeking depth, but also inevitably lead to the ills of obscurity.