What are the Five Classics?

The Five Classics refer to The Book of Songs, Shangshu, Book of Rites, Zhouyi and Chunqiu.

These five books are the oldest documents in China so far and the main classics of ancient Confucianism in China.

1. The Book of Songs is the beginning of China's ancient poetry. It is the earliest collection of poems, including ***3 1 1+0 poems from the early Western Zhou Dynasty to the mid-Spring and Autumn Period.

2. Shangshu, formerly known as Book, is a compilation of works recalling ancient deeds. It is divided into Yu Shu, Xia Shu, Shangshu and Zhou Shu, also known as the book of books. Shangshu is the oldest royal anthology in China, the first ancient historical document in China, and also a compilation of some works describing ancient deeds.

3. The Book of Rites, also known as The Book of Rites of Little Dai and The Book of Little Dai, was written in the Han Dynasty and is said to have been compiled by Dai Sheng, a ritual scientist in the Western Han Dynasty. It is an important collection of laws and regulations in ancient China, with 20 volumes and 49 articles.

4. The Book of Changes, including the Book of Changes and the Book of Changes, is one of the "three changes" (another view: the Book of Changes is three changes, not the Book of Changes) and is one of the traditional classics. During the Spring and Autumn Period, official schools began to evolve into private schools.

5. Chunqiu, also known as Chunqiu Jing, or, is a chronological history book in the Spring and Autumn Period of China, which records the important historical facts of Lu from 1990 to 14 years.

The influence of the five classics

It was used as a proposition book and textbook for selecting talents in feudal imperial examinations. It is an important part of China's traditional culture, the core carrier of Confucianism and the treasure of China's historical and cultural ancient books.

It records in detail the political, military, diplomatic and cultural historical materials in the most active period in the history of Chinese ideological and cultural development, and the important philosophical thoughts of Confucius and Mencius that have influenced China culture for thousands of years.

Reading the Five Classics, we can understand life from five angles, namely: Zhouyi-a philosophical angle; Shangshu ―― A political perspective; Viewing the Book of Songs from an artistic perspective: The Book of Rites ―― A social perspective: a historical perspective of Spring and Autumn Annals.