The Difference and Connection between Six Classics and Six Arts

What is "Six Arts"? Relationship between "Six Arts" and "Six Classics"

A lot of history

June 65438, 2007

What is "Six Arts"? There is a difference between "Six Arts in Primary School" and "Six Arts in University". The former refers to ceremony, music, shooting, restraint, writing and counting. The latter refers to Yi, Li, Yue, Shi, Shu and Chunqiu.

When people talk about "Six Arts", they often think of Confucius first, as if he had formulated them. However, this is not the case. As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, "Six Arts" should have appeared and become a compulsory course for children. Behind the misreading of "Six Arts", more people misread traditional culture.

Even in Qufu, Confucius' hometown, there seems to be some misunderstanding about "Six Arts". An obvious example, 1993, the "Confucius Six Arts City", has always been based on "ceremony, music, shooting, imperial, calligraphy and number" since its opening. In the streets, various elements of Confucius' Six Arts can also be seen everywhere.

If we want to trace the origin of "Six Arts", we should trace it back to the Zhou Dynasty. In the literature of Zhou Li, such as Emperor Guan and Bao Shi, the six arts are all expounded. In the aristocratic society of the Zhou Dynasty, in order to be able to "make scholars" or cultivate heirs, scholars must learn six skills: etiquette, music, shooting, defense, calligraphy and counting. Therefore, there is a detailed record of the six arts in "Li Zhou Di Guan": "Teach the people with three things in the countryside and make folk music ... Three words about the six arts: ritual, music, shooting, imperial, writing and counting." This is the earliest and most detailed record of "Six Arts".

According to the interpretation of Han Confucianism and later generations, the specific contents of "Six Arts" are as follows:

Rites refer to "five rites". These "five rites" are good luck, fierceness, hospitality, army and kindness. Ji Li refers to the sacrificial ceremony, the fierce ceremony refers to the funeral ceremony, Li Bin refers to the reception of guests, the military ceremony refers to the military ceremony, and Li Jia refers to the wedding ceremony.

Music refers to "Six Music". Zheng Xuan's Note: "Six Music: Yunmen, Dayan, Dashao, Daxia, Dayun and Dawu." According to legend, these "six kinds of music" are the music of Huangdi, Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang and Zhi respectively.

Shooting means "five shots" Zheng Xuan wrote: "Five shots, white arrows, ginseng, swish, one foot, well instrument." White vector refers to the arrow passing through the target, exposing the white vector; Connection means that one vector is followed by three vectors; Swish notes mean that the feathers are high and low, but they are far away; Item ("item" leads to "let") means that when I shoot with you, I don't stand side by side with you, and I avoid a foot; Well gauge refers to four arrows penetrating the target, with orderly directions. It is said that these are five shooting methods of shooting ceremony.

Imperial refers to "five controls". Zheng Xuan's note: "Five controls, singing and falling in love, chasing water songs, crossing the gentleman's table, dancing across the street and chasing birds to the left." Ming and Luan, harmony is the clock on the car, and Luan is the clock on the scale. When the car is moving, "harmony" and "chaos" coincide, indicating that the car is running steadily; Bend by the water, the royal car bends with the water potential and does not fall into the water; Pass the gentleman's watch, wrap the door with brown cloth, use autumn wrapped wood as nails, and the car must not collide when passing through the middle; Dance at the intersection, drive at the intersection, and the rotation of the car corresponds to the dance festival; Driving birds to the left is called driving in the opposite direction, and driving animals to the left in the opposite direction. When the monarch shoots at them, the monarch shoots from the left, and the cluster penetrates the right and shoots upwards. It is said that these are five techniques that nobles and literati should master to control chariots and hunt.

Books refer to "six books". "Six Books" refer to pictographs, comprehensions, annotations, objects, loanwords and pictophonetic characters. This is the composition knowledge of Chinese characters.

Number refers to "nine numbers", that is, "nine chapters of arithmetic". According to legend, Nine Chapters of Arithmetic was written by Duke Zhou, with nine chapters. They are Tian Fang, Su, Xia, Shao Guang and Shang Gong, who lose, equation, gain and loss, and cross the valley.

The social environment determines the popularity of "Six Arts". So why did the ancients learn "Six Arts" as the most basic skill? At that time, there was a saying that "the great event of the country lies in respecting peace and glory." The so-called "sacrifice" refers to sacrifice, which is a very important activity in the pre-Qin period; The so-called "war" refers to the war of war, which is also very important for a country, because a war is often related to the life and death of a country.

On the contrary, rites and music are two indispensable things in sacrifice, so many scholars' children have to learn these two skills since childhood, that is, rites and music. Similar to etiquette and music, bows and arrows and driving were also indispensable in the war at that time. Because of this, in the ancient "six arts", "shooting" and "imperial" have also become two essential compulsory courses. At the beginning, "Book" and "Number" were also two compulsory courses. As the children of scholars at that time, they must have the ability to write and count.

The Confucian "Six Classics" is called "Six Arts", which is well known and clearly recorded in many ancient books. For example, Sima Qian's "Biography of Historical Records and Funny Stories" said: "Confucius said:' Six arts are used to cure one, rituals are used to save people, music is used to make peace, books are used to teach things, poems are used to express meaning, easy to use is deified, and spring and autumn are used to express meaning. Another example is Ban Gu's Preface to the Scholars: "Ancient Confucianism learned six arts. Yan Shigu in Tang Dynasty pointed out that "Six Arts" refers to Yi, Li, Yue, Shi, Shu, Chun Qiu.

When it comes to "six arts", people often think of Confucius. There is indeed a saying in the historical records that Confucius disciples are "proficient in six arts" Obviously, it is different from ceremony, music, shooting, imperial, writing and counting.

The reason why later generations confuse the two may also be related to Dong Zhongshu's later letters. In the Western Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu wrote to the emperor, demanding "to oust a hundred schools of thought and respect Confucianism alone". "History of Han Dong Zhongshu Biography" once recorded in detail: "I foolishly thought that anyone who is not in the subject of six arts, Confucius' skills are all from his Tao, so he did not advance. If the evil king said it, he would stop the interests, then the unified discipline would be unified, the statutes would be clear, and the people would know what to do. "

The "Learning of Six Arts" mentioned by Dong Zhongshu in his book actually refers to the Six Classics compiled and taught by Confucius, which is a general term for the Six Classics of Poetry, Calligraphy, Rite, Music, Yi and Spring and Autumn Period. When Confucius sorted out and taught the Six Classics, there was probably no such thing as Classics, at least it was not popular, so it was also called Six Arts. In the late Warring States period, Zhuangzi relayed Confucius' exposition on these six works to Laozi, and the theory of "Six Classics" came into being.

In the period after Confucius and Confucius, two kinds of "six arts" coexist, among which "ritual, music, shooting, imperial, calligraphy and number" are the six basic skills of children before 15 years old. According to "The Great Book of Dai Li Fu Bao", in the era of Confucius, children left home at the age of eight. When children reach the age of 65,438+05, they should learn how to manage people and society. This is what Fu Bao said in a book about ceremonies: "Tie your hair to go to college", "Learn great skills" and "celebrate big festivals".

Both Confucius and his disciples were proficient in both civil and military arts at that time, because they learned skills such as shooting and defense when they were young, and learned the "Six Classics" when they grew up.