What are the traditional classic books in China?

China's traditional classic reading materials include The Analects of Confucius, Daxue, The Doctrine of the Mean, Mencius, Zi Tong Zhi Jian and so on.

1, Analects of Confucius

The Analects of Confucius is a collection of quotations from Confucius and his disciples, which was compiled by Confucius' disciples and re-disciples until the early Warring States period. The book * * * consists of 20 chapters and 492 sections. It mainly records the words and deeds of Confucius and his disciples, and embodies Confucius' political opinions, ethical thoughts, moral concepts and educational principles.

This book is one of the Confucian classics, and it is also called "Four Books" with Daxue, The Doctrine of the Mean and Mencius. Together with The Book of Songs, Shangshu, Book of Rites, Zhouyi and Chunqiu, they are called "Four Books and Five Classics".

2. University

"University" is an essay on the Confucian thought of self-cultivation and governing the country. Originally the 42nd article of The Book of Rites of Little Dai, it is said that it was written by. In fact, it is a Confucian work in the Qin and Han Dynasties, and it is an important work for China to discuss educational theory in ancient times.

After being highly praised by Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi in the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhu in the Southern Song Dynasty wrote "University Chapters and Sentences", which was finally called "Four Books" together with The Doctrine of the Mean, The Analects of Confucius and Mencius. After the Song and Yuan Dynasties, "Da Xue" became the official textbook of the school and the required reading of the imperial examination, which had a great influence on the ancient education in China.

The "Three Outlines" and "Eight Items" put forward in "University" emphasize that self-cultivation is the premise of governing people, and the purpose of self-cultivation is to govern the country and the world, which shows the consistency between governing the country and the world and personal moral cultivation.

3. The golden mean

The Doctrine of the Mean is a monograph on moral philosophy in the field of life cultivation in ancient China, and it is one of the Confucian classics. Originally the thirty-first chapter of the Book of Rites, it was said that it was written by Zi Si during the Warring States Period.

Its content affirms that "the golden mean" is the highest standard of moral behavior, regards "sincerity" as the noumenon of the world, thinks that "sincerity" reaches the highest realm of life, and puts forward the learning process and cognitive methods of "erudition, questioning, deliberation, discernment and perseverance". It was extracted from the Book of Rites in the Song Dynasty and merged with Daxue, Analects of Confucius and Mencius into four books.

After the Song and Yuan Dynasties, it became an official textbook, and the imperial examination was compulsory, which had a great influence on the ancient education and society in China. Its main annotations include Cheng Hao's The Doctrine of the Mean, Cheng Yi's Interpretation of the Doctrine of the Mean, Zhu's Chapters of the Doctrine of the Mean, Li Yong's Biography of the Doctrine of the Mean, Dai Zhen's Supplementary Notes on the Doctrine of the Mean, Kang Youwei's Notes on the Doctrine of the Mean, Ma Qichang's Friends of the Doctrine of the Mean and Hu's Brief Comments on the Doctrine of the Mean.

4. Mencius

Mencius, one of the four books. In the mid-Warring States period, Mencius and his disciples Zhang Wan, Gong Sunchou and others. The earliest inscription in Zhao Qi's "Mencius" reads: "This book was also written by Mencius, so it is called Mencius".

There are eleven pieces of Mencius recorded in History of Han, and there are seven pieces and fourteen volumes. The total number of words is more than 35,000 words and 286 chapters. According to legend, there are four other books of Mencius, which have been lost (this book of Mencius is a fake of Yao Shizhen in the Ming Dynasty). This book records the politics, education, philosophy, ethical thoughts and political activities of Mencius and his disciples. Ancient examinations mainly included four books and five classics.

5. Purple Tongzhi scissors

Zi Tongzhi Jian, a multi-volume chronological history book edited by Sima Guang in the Northern Song Dynasty, has 294 volumes, which took 19 years to complete. Mainly based on time and events, it began in the 23rd year of Zhou Weilie (403 BC) and ended in the 6th year of Xiande, Zhou Shizong after the Five Dynasties (959 AD), covering the history of 16 dynasties and 1362 years.

In this book, the editor summed up many experiences and lessons for the rulers to learn from. Song Shenzong thinks that this book is "in view of the past, it has the resources for governance", that is, to strengthen the rule by taking historical gains and losses as a warning, so it is named "Managing with Capital". Zitongzhijian has 294 volumes, about 3 million words, and Kaoyi and Catalogue have 30 volumes.

Zi Tong Zhi Jian is China's first chronological general history, which occupies a very important position in China's official history works.