Four Books and Five Classics - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

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The Four Books and Five Classics (simplified Chinese:;traditional Chinese:; pinyin: Ssh Wjng) are the authoritativebooks of Confucianism in China written before 300 BC.[1]

Contents1 Did Confucius Edit the Classics?2 Four Books3 Five Classics4 Notes5 See also6 External links

Did Confucius Edit the Classics?The scholar Yao Hsin-chung allows that there are good reasons to believethat Confucian classics took shape in the hands of Confucius, but thatnothing can be taken for granted in the matter of the early versions of theclassics. From the time of the Former Han Dynasty, Yao continues, mostConfucian scholars believed that there were no Confucian classicsbefore Confucius, and that Confucius re-collected and edited them,thereby fixing the versions of the ancient writings which became theClassics. In the twentieth century, many Chinese scholars still held to thistradition. The New Confucian scholar, Xiong Shili (1885 -1968), forinstance, held that the Six Classics were the final versions "fixed up" by

Four Books and Five Classics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Books_and_Five_Classics

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Confucius in his old age. Other scholars had and have different views. TheOld Text School, for instance, relied on versions found in the Han Dynastywhich supposedly survived the Qin dynasty burning of the books but manyof them held that these works had not been edited by Confucius butsurvived directly from the Zhou dynasty. For quite different reasons,mainly having to do with modern textual scholarship a greater number oftwentieth century scholars both in China and in other countries hold thatConfucius had nothing to do with editing the classics, much less writingthem. Yao Hsin-chung reports that still other scholars hold the pragmaticview that the history of the Classics is a long one and that Confucius andhis followers, although they did not intend to create a system of classics,contributed to their formation. [2] In any case, it is undisputed that formost of the last 2,000 years, Confucius was believed to have either writtenor edited these classics.

The most important events in the textual career of these classics were theadoption of Confucianism as state orthodoxy in the Han Dynasty, whichled to their preservation, and the renaissance of Confucianism in theSong Dynasty, which led to their being made the basis of Confucianorthodoxy in the imperial examination system in the following dynasties.The Neo-Confucian sage Zhu Xi (1130-1200) fixed the texts of the FourBooks and wrote commentaries whose new interpretations becameaccepted as being those of Confucius himself. [3]

Four BooksThe Four Books (Chinese:; pinyin: S Sh) are Chinese classic textsillustrating the core value and belief systems in Confucianism. They wereselected by Zhu Xi in the Song Dynasty to serve as general introduction toConfucian thought, and they were, in the Ming and Qing dynasties, madethe core of the official curriculum for the civil service examinations. [4]


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They are:


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Title(English)

Title(Chinese) Brief Description

GreatLearning

Originally one chapter in the Classic of Rites. Itconsists of a short main text attributed to Confuciusand nine commentary chapters by Zeng Zi, one ofConfucius's disciples. Its importance is illustrated byZeng Zi's foreword that this is the gateway oflearning.It is significant because it expresses many themes ofChinese philosophy and political thinking, and hastherefore been extremely influential both in classicaland modern Chinese thought. Government, selfcultivation and investigation of things are linked.

Doctrineof theMean

Another chapter in Classic of Rites, attributed toConfucius' grandson Zisi. The purpose of this small,33-chapter book is to demonstrate the usefulness ofa golden way to gain perfect virtue. It focuses onthe Way () that is prescribed by a heavenlymandate not only to the ruler but to everyone. Tofollow these heavenly instructions by learning andteaching will automatically result in a Confucianvirtue. Because Heaven has laid down what is theway to perfect virtue, it is not that difficult to followthe steps of the holy rulers of old if one only knowswhat is the right way.

Analects

A compilation of speeches by Confucius and hisdisciples, as well as the discussions they held. SinceConfucius's time, the Analects has heavilyinfluenced the philosophy and moral values ofChina and later other East Asian countries as well.The Imperial examinations, started in the JinDynasty and eventually abolished with the foundingof the Republic of China, emphasized Confucianstudies and expected candidates to quote and apply


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the words of Confucius in their essays.

Mencius A collection of conversations of the scholarMencius with kings of his time. In contrast to thesayings of Confucius, which are short andself-contained, the Mencius consists of longdialogues with extensive prose.

Five ClassicsThe Five Classics (simplified Chinese:; traditional Chinese:;pinyin: W Jng) are five ancient Chinese books used in Confucianism asthe basis of studies. These books, or parts of them, were either commentedon, compiled, or edited by Confucius himself. They are:


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Title(English)

Title(Chinese) Brief Description

Classic ofPoetry

A collection of 305 poems divided into 160 folksongs, 105 festal songs sung at court ceremonies,and 40 hymns and eulogies sung at sacrifices togods and ancestral spirits of the royal house.

Book ofDocuments

A collection of documents and speeches alleged tohave been written by rulers and officials of theearly Zhou period and before. It is possibly theoldest Chinese narrative, and may date from the6th century BC. It includes examples of earlyChinese prose.

Book ofRites

Describes ancient rites, social forms and courtceremonies. The version studied today is are-worked version compiled by scholars in thethird century BC rather than the original text,which is said to have been edited by Confuciushimself.

Classic ofChanges

Also known as I Ching or Book of Changes. Thebook contains a divination system comparable toWestern geomancy or the West African If system.In Western cultures and modern East Asia, it isstill widely used for this purpose.

Spring andAutumnAnnals

A historical record of the State of Lu, Confucius'snative state, 722481 BC.

The Classic of Music () is sometimes considered as the sixth classicbut was lost in the Burning of the Books.

Notes


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^ Bleeker, C. J. and G. Widengren (1971). Historia Religionum, Volume 2Religions of the Present. BRILL. p. 478. ISBN 90-04-02598-7.

1.

^ Hsin-chung Yao, An Introduction to Confucianism (New York:Cambridge University Press, 2000), pp. 52-54.

2.

^ Daniel K. Gardner. The Four Books: The Basic Teachings of the LaterConfucian Tradition. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2007. ISBN 9780872208261.

3.

^ Gardner, translated and edited, The Four Books.4.

See alsoChinese classicsChinese literatureThirteen Classics

External linksUlrich Theobol, "Chinese Literature - alphabetical index"(http://www.chinaknowledge.de/Literature/literature_alphabet.html)at CHINAKNOWLEDGE - a universal guide for China studiesDonald Jordan (University of California, San Diego): The CanonicalBooks of Confucianism (http://weber.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/chin/hbcanonru-u.html)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Four_Books_and_Five_Classics&oldid=556388476"Categories: Chinese classic texts Confucian texts Chinese literatureChinese philosophy Chinese thought Song Dynasty Confucianism

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