What's in the Four Books and Five Classics?

The Four Books and Five Classics is a collective name for the Four Books and the Five Classics, which are the classic books of Chinese Confucianism. The four books refers to the "Analects", "Mencius", "University" and "Medieval Times"; and the five scriptures refers to the "Poetry", "Shangshu", "Rites", "Zhouyi", "Spring and Autumn Annals", referred to as "Poetry, Book, Rites, Yi, Spring and Autumn Annals", in fact, originally there should have been six scriptures, and there is also a book of "Le Jing", collectively referred to as the "Poetry, In fact, there should have been six sutras, and one "Lejing", collectively known as "Poetry, Calligraphy, Rites, Music, Ideas, Spring and Autumn", but later died in the war at the end of the Qin Dynasty, leaving only five sutras.

Table of Contents

1. The Four Books

1.1 The Great Learning

1.2 The Medieval Learning

1.3 The Analects of Confucius

1.4 Mencius

2. The Five Classics

2.1 The Book of Poetry

2.2 The Book of Songs

2.3 The Record of Rites

2.

2.4 Zhouyi

2.5 Spring and Autumn

The Four Books

The Four Books are the Confucian classics. Zhu Xi, a scholar of the Southern Song Dynasty, took the two texts of the Rites, University and Zhongyong (The Mean), and combined them with Lunyin (The Analects of Confucius) and Menzies (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 every dynasty, thus creating the unique status of the Four Books. Even after the Song Dynasty, the Four Books took precedence over the Five Classics.

Southern Song Guangzong Shaoxi far years (1190 years), when the famous rationalist Zhu Xi in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, the University of the Analects of Confucius, Mencius, Medievalism, 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", has epoch-making significance. Han and Tang Dynasty is the era of the Five Classics, after the Song Dynasty is the era of the Four Books.

The University

The University was originally the Book of Rites, which was never printed separately before the Southern Song Dynasty. It is rumored to have been composed by Zeng Sen (505-434 BC), a disciple of Confucius. Since the Tang Dynasty Han Yu, Li Ao to maintain the Taoist system and promote the "University" (and the "Medieval Times"), to the Northern Song Dynasty, the two Cheng praised the promotion, and even said, "University", the Kong's legacy of the book and the beginning of the study of the door of virtue, and then to the Southern Song Dynasty Chu Hsi inherited the two Cheng's thought, the "University" from the "Rites of passage" in the extraction, and the "Analects of Confucius", "Mencius", "Medieval Times" side by side, to Chu Hsi wrote the "University" in the "Rites of passage", and "Medieval Times", to the Southern Song Dynasty. The "side by side", to Zhu Xi wrote "four books chapter and sentence set of notes", it became one of the "four books". According to Zhu Xi and another famous scholar of the Song Dynasty, Cheng Yi, "University" is the legacy of Confucius and his disciples, and is the introduction to Confucianism. Therefore, Zhu Xi listed it as the first of the Four Books.

The Meanwhile

The Meanwhile was also originally published in the Book of Rites, and was never printed separately before the Southern Song Dynasty. It is generally believed to have been written by Confucius' grandson, Zi Si (483-402 BC), and the Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian) states that "Zi Si wrote the Zhongyong". Since the Tang Dynasty, Han Yu, Li Ao to maintain the Taoist system and promote the "Mean" (and the "University"), to the Northern Song Dynasty, Ercheng praised and publicized, and even that the "Mean" is "the Confucian family to teach the heart of the law", and then to the Southern Song Dynasty, Chu Hsi inherited Ercheng's thought, then the "Mean" from the "Rites of passage" out of the "Analects of Confucius", "Mencius", "University" side by side to the Zhu Xi became one of the Four Books when he wrote the Collected Commentaries on the Four Books. The basic ideas of the Meanwhile and the Mencius are largely the same. However, the existing Zhongyong has been revised by the Confucian scholars of the Qin Dynasty, and was roughly written shortly after the unification of the country by the Qin. Therefore, the way of each article has been different from that of the University, not taking the two words at the beginning of justice as the title, but summarizing the central content of the article as the title.

The Analects of Confucius

The Analects of Confucius is a record of the words and deeds of Confucius and his students. Confucius (551 B.C.-479 B.C.E.), known as Qiu (丘), with the initials Zhongni (仲尼), was a native of Zuoyi (陬邑), the state of Lu (present-day Qufu, Shandong Province) during the Spring and Autumn Period. He was the founder of Confucianism, the most famous thinker, statesman and educator in ancient China, and had an extremely far-reaching influence on the development of Chinese thought and culture. The Analects of Confucius was written during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and was recorded and organized by Confucius' students and their retransmission students. The Analects is a record of the words and deeds of Confucius and his students. The Analects are rich in philosophy, politics, economics, education, literature and art, and are the main Confucian classic. In terms of expression, the Analects of Confucius is a model of discursive prose, with its refined language and vivid images. In the arrangement, the Analects of Confucius does not have a strict codification system, each article is a chapter, the collection of chapters for the chapter, chapter, chapter is not closely linked, but only roughly categorized, and there are duplicate chapters appear. During the Han Dynasty, three versions of the Analects of Confucius were in circulation: the Lu Analects (20 chapters), the Qi Analects (22 chapters), and the Guwen Analects (21 chapters). At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zheng Xuan used the Lu Lunyu as a base text and edited it with reference to the Qi Lunyu and the Guwen Lunyu to form a new text with commentaries. After Zheng Xuan's commentary was circulated, the Qi Lunyu and Guwen Lunyu were gradually lost. Later generations of commentaries on the Analects of Confucius are: the Three Kingdoms period Wei He Yan "Analects of Confucius", the North and South Dynasties Liang dynasty Huang Kan "Analects of Confucius", the Song dynasty Xing Yan "Analects of Confucius", Zhu Xi "Analects of Confucius", and the Qing dynasty Liu Baonan "Justice of the Analects of Confucius", and so on.

Mengzi

Mengzi is a book that records the words and deeds of Mencius and his students. Meng Zi (c. 372-289 BC), with the name Ke and the character Ziyi, was a native of Zou (southeast of present-day Zou County, Shandong Province) in the middle of the Warring States period, not far from Confucius' hometown of Qufu. He was a famous thinker, statesman and educator, and the successor of Confucius' doctrine. Like Confucius, Mencius also led his students to travel in Wei, Qi, Song, Lu, Teng, and Xue, and at one time served as the guest secretary of King Xuan of Qi. Since his political ideas were also not utilized in the same way as Confucius's, he returned to his hometown to gather disciples for lectures, and with his student Wan Zhang and others, he wrote a book, "Preface the Poetry and the Book, describe the meaning of Zhongni, and compose seven articles of Mencius." ("Historical Records - Mengzi Xunqing Liezhuan") Zhao Qi in "Mengzi's Title" compared "Mengzi" with "The Analects", and believed that "Mengzi" was "composed in the likeness of the Sage". Therefore, although "Han Shu - Yi Wen Zhi" only puts "Mengzi" in "Zhuzi", which is regarded as "Zishu", in fact, it was already regarded as a "biography" to supplement "Jingshu" in the mind of Han Dynasty people. Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty put "Analects", "Book of Filial Piety", "Mencius", "Er Ya" each with a doctorate, so it was called "Dr. Biography". During the Five Dynasties of the Later Shu Dynasty, the Lord of Later Shu, Meng Chang, ordered eleven sutras to be inscribed in regular script, including Mencius, which was probably the beginning of the inclusion of Mencius in the "sutras". When Emperor Xiaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi compiled the Four Books and included Mencius, which formally gave Mencius a very high status. After the Yuan and Ming Dynasty, it became the content of the imperial examinations, and it is a must-read for the readers.

The Five Classics

The Five Classics is the collective name for the five ancient classical books that Confucianism used as the basis for its study, 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 and the Spring and Autumn Annals.

Qin Shi Huang "burning books and burying scholars", it is said that by the Qin fire, "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; Song Dynasty, plus the 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 "Chuan", "Li Ji", "Xiao Jing", "Analects", "Mencius" are "records", "Er Ya" is the Han Dynasty scribe's exegetical works. The later Five Classics are: Zhouyi, Shangshu, Shijing, Rituals, and Zuozhuan.

The Book of Poetry

The Book of Poetry, known in pre-Qin times as the Poems, or the Three Hundred Poems, was the first collection of Chinese poetry. It brings together three hundred and five poems (originally three hundred and eleven) from the early Western Zhou Dynasty to the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period over five hundred years. "The ancient Poetry was composed in more than 3,000 pieces, and Confucius was the one who compiled it ......" ("Historical Records - The Family of Confucius"), according to the legend. The Poetry is divided into three parts, namely, "Wind", "Elegance" and "Ode", with "Wind" being a ballad of native winds. The "Winds" are the ballads of the native winds, the "Elegance" is the elegant music of the kings of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and the "Ode" is the dances and songs for the rituals of the temples and clans of the upper class. This book widely reflected all aspects of social life at that time, and was regarded as an encyclopedia of life in ancient society, with far-reaching influence on later generations. Friends who like poetry, I believe they have read it.

Shangshu

Shangshu was known as "The Book" and "The Book of Books" in ancient times, and was called "Shangshu" in Han Dynasty. The word "Shang" means "on" or "ancient", and the book is one of the earliest compilations of historical documents in ancient times. It is a compendium of the earliest historical documents in ancient times, covering a period of more than 1,500 years, from the legendary Yao and Shun eras down to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period). The basic content is a record of the ancient emperors' writings and the contents of the conversations between rulers and ministers, which suggests that the author should have been a historian. According to the Historical Records of China - The Family of Confucius, Confucius "ordered the biographies of the books, from the Tang and Yu Dynasties down to the Qin and Mu Dynasties, and compiled them", which is rumored to have been compiled by Confucius. There are two kinds of books in the Shangshu, one is "present-day Shangshu" and the other is "ancient Shangshu", and the "Thirteen Classics of the Bible" is a compilation of present-day Shangshu and pseudo-ancient Shangshu. In ancient times, people were praised for being well read in poetry and books, and the term "poetry and books" referred to the Classic of Poetry and the Book of Songs, respectively.

The Book of Rites

The Book of Rites is an anthology of essays by Confucian scholars from the Warring States period to the Qin-Han period that explains the book of rituals, "The Book of Rites is only an explanation of the Book of Rites" (Zhu Zi Yuzi - Volume 87), and it is a compendium of information on Confucian thought. Although the Book of Rites is only an explanation of the Rites of Passage, its influence goes beyond the Zhou Rites and the Rites of Passage because of its broad scope. There are two kinds of copies of the Book of Rites: one was compiled by Dai De, with 85 articles, 40 of which are still in existence today, and the other, which is the Book of Rites we see today, is a selection of 49 articles by Dai De's nephew Dai Sheng, called the Book of Rites of Xiaodai.

The Zhouyi

The Zhouyi, also known as the Yi and the Yijing, is the first of the Confucian classics. Zhouyi is a book of divination, its outer layer is mysterious, and the inner philosophy is deep and magnificent. The author should be a diviner, completed by many people. The content of the book extensively records all aspects of the Western Zhou society, containing historical value, ideological value and literary value. Previously, people's understanding of the laws of nature and human saint, never beyond the yin and yang gossip thinking framework. Legend has it that the dragon horse pack "Hetu" appeared in the Yellow River, the ancient saint Fu Xi began to make gossip; "Historical Records" and said "cover the King detained, and perform the "Zhou Yi" (said Fu Xi heavy trigrams, said Shen Nong), and make the lines of the rhetoric (or Zhou Gong); after the Spring and Autumn period, there is a hole in the saint for the "Ten Wings" said, the world called "people more than three saints, the world experience three ancient" ("Han Shu - Arts and Letters"). Zhouyi consists of two parts: the Jing and the Biography. The "classic" text by the sixty-four hexagrams and the corresponding hexagrams, hexagrams, lines, lines, etc. Composition. The "Biography" a **** seven kinds of ten articles, there are "Tuan" up and down, "Elephant" up and down, "Wenyan", "Department of rhetoric" up and down, "say Gua", "miscellaneous trigrams" and "prelude to the trigrams". The ancients called these ten "Chuan" together as "Ten Wings", meaning that "Chuan" is the wings attached to "Jing", i.e., it is used to explain "Jing". The "Ten Wings" means that the "Chuan" is a wing attached to the "Jing", that is, it is used to explain the content of the "Jing".

Spring and Autumn

Zuo Zhuan (左传), also known as Zuo Shi Chun Qiu (左氏春秋), Chun Qiu Gu Wen (春秋古文), and Chun Qiu Zuo Shi Chuan (春秋左氏传), is an ancient chronicle of historical works. The Historical Records of the Spring and Autumn Period (《史记》) said that the author was Zuo Qiu Ming, the Qing Dynasty, the modern scripture scholars believe that the Department of Liu Xin adapted, and the recent people believe that it is the early years of the Warring States period according to the history of various countries compiled by the people (and there are said to be the Lu State historians of the successive generations of the writing). The scope of its material includes the royal archives, the Lu history, the history of the vassal states and so on. The chronicles are basically in the order of the twelve dukes of Lu in the Spring and Autumn Annals, and the contents include the hiring, alliances, conquests and conquests, marriages and funerals, and usurpation and regicide among the vassal states, which had an important impact on the history and literature of the later generations. Zuo Zhuan was not a Confucian classic, but since it was established in the school officials and later attached to the Spring and Autumn Annals, it was gradually taken as a classic by the Confucians.

Four Books and Five ClassicsAnother detailed introduction:

The Four Books and Five Classics is the basic bibliography of Confucianism after the Southern Song Dynasty, and is required reading for Confucian students.

The Four Books

"The Four Books" refers to the four books, namely, The Analects of Confucius, The Works of Mencius, The Meanwhile, and The Great Learning. Among them, the Analects and Mencius are collections of the sayings of Confucius, Mencius, and their students, respectively, while the University and the Meanwhile are two texts from 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 Zishu to teach Mengzi". 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. Because of the shorter length of the University and the Meanwhile, for the sake of the convenience of engraving and publishing, the latter mentioned the Meanwhile before the Analects, and became the order of the University, the Meanwhile, the Analects, and the Mencius that prevails nowadays.

Because Zhu Xi annotated the "Four Books" both the integration of the previous doctrine, 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 science" 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 "eight-legged essay" examination system, the topic is also in the 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 the 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 Five Classics

The Five Classics refer to the Poetry Classics, the Book of Songs, the Rites of Zhou, 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 Classic". 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 Shijing were all sung lyrics at that time. According to the nature of the music they are set to, they can be divided into the categories of 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 known as the fifteen national winds, most of which are folk songs of the Yellow River Valley, and a small portion of them are works processed by the aristocrats, and comprise 160 poems. 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 songs from the folk were lively and vivid, while the poems of the court nobles were dwarfed by the 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.

The 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 Periods, it was known as the Book, and it was only during the Han Dynasty that it was renamed the 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 is known as the Shangshu in the present-day 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 forged the ancient text of the "Shangshu" twenty-five, but also from the modern text of the "Shangshu" in the analysis of a number of, together with the original modern text of the "Shangshu" **** for fifty-eight, also known as the ancient text of the "Shangshu". The "Shangshu" in the "Thirteen Classic Commentaries" is this ancient text "Shangshu" 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 when he conquered the Zhou Dynasty, "Doshi" is the words of the Duke of Zhou admonishing the survivors of Yin with the king's order, and "Wuyi" is the words of the Duke of Zhou cautioning 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, "Qin Oath" is the words of repentance and self-blame after the failure of Duke Mu of Qin to attack Jin, which expresses the feelings of remorse and sorrow, and the article reads as follows: As the ancients said, "The people are finished as if they were more than one plate." 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 "ZhaoZhao such as the sun and moon of the generation of Ming, away from the wrong line if the senator", is also feeling it. However, here there is also the ancient psychological blame.

The Zhou Li, also known as the Zhou Guan or Zhou Guan Jing, is one of the Confucian classics. Confucianism uses 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 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 Ri Ji is a record of the Ritual Scriptures passed down by Confucius' students as well as by later generations, and is concerned 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, with Confucian political ideals added, added and subtracted. 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 think 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. On the three left were Tai Shi, Tai Zhu, and Tai Bu; on 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 of 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 always 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 the "three divisions". 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 Zhou Rites also contains historical information on many aspects of ancient religion, economic policy, 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 and 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 and contains 24,070 characters. Divided into two parts of the book and the biography. Ten wings for the elucidation of the I Ching and made, so it is said that the transmission. It is the overlap of the eight trigrams into the sixty-four hexagrams as a structural framework, the Chinese people in the ancient times, summarized 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 divining trigrams to revelation of the heavenly, the earthly, humane laws of the change of the rules.

The Spring and Autumn Annals was originally a common name for the history books of various countries in the pre-Qin era, and then only the Spring and Autumn Annals of the State of Lu was published, which became a special name. This original compilation of "Spring and Autumn Annals" by the historians of the State of Lu is said to have been organized and revised by Confucius, giving it a special significance, and thus it also became an important classic of Confucianism. 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 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 realize that they should strive for simplicity and profound meaning in their sentences. Of course, deliberately seeking depth, but also inevitably lead to the ills of obscurity.