Five Classics

The Five Classics (simplified Chinese: 五经; traditional Chinese: 五經; pinyin: Wŭ Jīng) are five ancient Chinese books used by
Confucianism as the basis of studies. These books were compiled or edited by Confucius himself. They are:
Title
Title (English) Brief Description
(Chinese)
Classic of A collection of 305 poems divided into 160 folk songs, 105 festal songs sung at court ceremonies, and
詩經
Poetry 40 hymns and eulogies sung at sacrifices to gods and ancestral spirits of the royal house.
A collection of documents and speeches alleged to have been written by rulers and officials of the
Classic of
書經 early Zhou period and before. It is possibly the oldest Chinese narrative, and may date from the 6th
History
century B.C. It includes examples of early Chinese prose.
Describes ancient rites, social forms and court ceremonies, a restoration of the original Lijing lost in
Classic of Rites 禮記
the third century B.C.
Also known as I Ching or Book of Changes. The book contains a divination system comparable to
Classic of
易經 Western geomancy or the West African Ifá system. In Western cultures and modern East Asia, it is
Changes
still widely used for this purpose.
Also known as Līn Jīng (麟經), a historical record of the state of Lu, Confucius's native state, from 722
Spring and
春秋 B.C. to 481 B.C. compiled by Confucius, with implied condemnation of usurpations, murder, incest,
Autumn Annals
etc.
The Classic of Music (樂經) is sometimes considered as the existed as a separated classic is not sure. Other
sixth classic. Since most parts of it are destroyed during interpretations say that the term Liujing has to be
the Burning of the Books, the remaining sections are understood as the “Six Arts” (like the middle-age Artes
collected as two books in the Classic of Rites.
Liberales): the Shangshu representing speeches, the
The Confucian Classics are said to have been thoroughly
Chunqiu representing historiography, the Shijing
composed by the great social thinker Confucius (Kongzi 孔
representing poetry, the Yijing representing divining, the
子 ) himself, at least the so-called Five Classics. Indeed,
Liji (or Yili) representing ritus, and finally the Ars Musica.
only a small part of the whole canon is from his time, the
The Spring and Autumn Annals ( 春 秋 ) is the official
late Spring and Autumn period 春秋. Parts of the Book of
Documents, the Book of Poetry (or Songs), the Book of chronicle of the State of Lu covering the period from 722
Changes and the Spring and Autumn Annals existed BCE to 481 BCE. It is the earliest surviving Chinese
already during the Zhou Dynasty. But the main part of the
historical text to be arranged on annalistic principles. The
corpus was written or at least compiled under the Han
Dynasty 漢 , when Confucianism became the official state text is extremely concise, and, if we excluded all of the
philosophy and thinking. commentaries, is about 16,000 words long; because of this
The books are divided in the Wujing 五經 "Five Canonical its meaning can only be appreciated with the aid of
Works", including the Yijing 易經 "Book of Changes", the
Shujing 書 經 (or Shangshu 尚 書 ) "Book of Documents", ancient commentaries, especially the traditional
the Shijing 詩經 (or Maoshi 毛詩) "Book of Poetry" , the Commentary of Zuo.
Liji 禮記 "Records of Rites" and the Chunqiu 春秋 "Spring Because it was traditionally regarded as having been
and Autumn Annals" (widened by the so-called compiled by Confucius (after a claim to this effect by
"Commentary" to the Annals by Zuo Qiuming 左丘明, the Mencius), it was included as one of the Five Classics of
Zuozhuan 左 傳 ), and the Sishu 四 書 "Four Books", Chinese literature. However, few modern scholars believe
including the teachings of the four philosophers Kongzi 孔 that Confucius had much influence on the formation of the
子 (the Lunyu 論語 "Analects"), his disciple Zeng Shen 曾 text; this is now assigned to various chroniclers from the
參 (the Daxue 大 學 "Great Learning"), Kong Ji 孔 伋 , a State of Lu.
grandson of Confucius (the Zhongyong 中庸 "Doctrine of Five ancient Chinese books associated with Confucius. For
the Mean"), and the book Mengzi 孟 子 . more than 2,000 years they were invoked as authorities on
Chinese society, government, literature, and religion.
The six classics Chinese students usually studied the shorter Four Books
before attempting the Five Classics, which consist of the
Traditional texts tell us of the “Six Classics” (Liujing 六經 or Yijing ("Classic of Changes"), the Shujing ("Classic of
Liuyi 六藝), inlcuding a classical book about music that has History"), the Classic of Poetry, the Collection of Rituals,
vanished. This book about music could now be part of the and the Chunqiu ("Spring and Autumn Annals"). The Five
Liji Classic as Yueji 樂 記 "Record of Music". If it ever Classics were taught from 136 BC (when Confucianism
became the state ideology of China) until the early 20th The Classic of Rites (Traditional Chinese: 禮記; Simplified
century. Proficiency in the texts was required for any Chinese: 礼记; pinyin: Lǐjì, also spelled Liki) described the
scholar applying for a post in the vast government social forms, ancient rites, and court ceremonies of the
Zhou Dynasty. It was a restoration of the original Lijing,
bureaucracy. After 1950 only select texts were taught in
believed to have been compiled by numerous Confucian
public schools. scholars during the Warring States Period.
The Five ClassicsThe compilation of the Wujing (The Five Compilation
Classics) was a concrete manifestation of the coming of During the first century B.C.E., the text was extensively
age of the Confucian tradition. The inclusion of both pre- reworked by Dai De (Senior Dai) and his nephew Dai Sheng
Confucian texts, the Shujing (“Classic of History”) and the (Junior Dai). The version of Junior Dai, composed in 49
Shijing (“Classic of Poetry”), and contemporary Qin-Han chapters, is what is regarded as the Book of Rites today.
material, such as certain portions of the Liji (“Record of Only fragments of the version Senior Dai have been
preserved. Modern scholars believe that the original title,
Rites”), suggests that the spirit behind the establishment
Lijing ("Classic of Rites"), was dropped so that jing
of the core curriculum for Confucian education was ("classic") would be reserved for works more directly
ecumenical. The Five Classics can be described in terms of connected with Confucius.
five visions: metaphysical, political, poetic, social, and The book includes the Classic of Music (Chapter 19);
historical. however, this version of the work is a dilapidated form of
Classic of Poetry the original, which is now lost. In 1993, a chapter of the
Shi Jing (Traditional Chinese: 詩經; Simplified Chinese: 诗 Classic of Rites, Black Robes, was found in tombs of
经; Hanyu Pinyin: Shī Jīng; Wade-Giles: Shih Ching), Guodian, in Hubei, dated to 300 B.C.E..
translated variously as the Classic of Poetry, the Book of The Classic of Rites also includes two chapters, Great
Songs or the Book of Odes, is the earliest existing Learning (Chapter 42), and Doctrine of the Mean (Chapter
collection of Chinese poems. It comprises 305 poems, 31), the original text of which is believed to have been
some possibly written as early as 1000 B.C.E.. compiled by one of Confucius's disciples, which are
The collection is divided into three parts according to their included separately as "books" in the collection known as
genre, feng, ya and song, with the ya genre further divided the Four Books.
into "small" and "large": By the second century C.E., the book was sometimes
Confucian tradition holds that the collection achieved its incorporated into the Three Rites with two other
present form when it was edited by Confucius. The documents, the Rites of Zhou and the Etiquette and
collection was officially acknowledged as a "classic" during Ceremonials.
the Han Dynasty, when four schools of commentary Classic of History
existed; the Qi (齊), the Lu (魯), the Han (韓), and the Mao The Classic of History (Chinese: 書經/书经; pinyin:
(毛) schools. The Qi and Lu schools did not survive, and the Shūjīng; Wade-Giles: Shuching) is a compilation of
Han school only partially survived. The Mao school became documentary records related to events in ancient history
the canonical school of Shi Jing commentary after the Han of China. It is also commonly known as the Shàngshū
Dynasty; the collection is also sometimes referred to as (Chinese: 尚書/尚书, literally: Esteemed Documents), or
"Mao Shi" (毛詩). Zheng Xuan's elucidation on the Mao simply Shū (Chinese: 書/书, colloquially: Documents). It is
commentary is also canonical. The 305 poems had to be commonly translated in western text as the Book of
reconstructed from memory by scholars after the Qin Documents.
Dynasty (221 – 206 B.C.E.) had burned the collection along Compilation
with other classical texts. (A total of 308 poem titles were Classic of History consists of 58 chapters (including eight
reconstructed, but the remaining three poems only have subsections), of which 33 are generally considered
titles without any extant text). The earliest surviving authentic examples of early Chinese prose from the sixth
edition of Shi Jing is a fragmentary one from the Han century B.C.E.. The first five chapters of the book purport
Dynasty (206 B.C.E.-200 C.E.), written on bamboo strips, to preserve the sayings and recall the deeds of such
unearthed at Fuyang. illustrious emperors as Yao and Shun, who reigned during
The poems are written in four-character lines. The airs are legendary ages; the next four are devoted to the Xia
in the style of folk songs, although the extent to which Dynasty, the historicity of which has not been definitively
they are real folk songs or literary imitations is debated. established; the next seventeen chapters deal with the
The odes deal with matters of court and historical subjects, Shang Dynasty and its collapse. The blame for this is
while the hymns blend history, myth and religious placed on the last Shang ruler, who is described as
material. oppressive, murderous, extravagant, and lustful. The final
The three major literary figures or styles employed in the 32 chapters cover the Zhou Dynasty until the reign of Duke
poems are “fù” (賦(赋), straightforward narrative; “bǐ” ( Mu of Qin.
比), explicit comparisons; and “xìng” ( 興(兴) ), implied The Shujing is possibly the earliest narrative of China, and
comparisons may predate the Historiai of Herodotus as a history by a
Classic of Rite century. Many citations of the Shangshu can be found in
the bamboo slips texts from the tombs of Guodian, in of the Spring and Autumn Annals, and are phrased as
Hubei, dated to the 300s B.C.E.. questions and answers.
Spring and Autumn Annals The Commentary of Zuo, composed in the early fourth
The Spring and Autumn Annals (春秋 Chūn Qiū, also century B.C.E., is a general history covering the period
known as 麟經 Lín Jīng), is the official chronicle of the from 722 to 468 B.C.E.. Modern scholars disagree about
State of Lu, Confucius’ native state, covering the period whether it is truly a commentary on the Spring and
from 722 B.C.E. to 481 B.C.E.. It is the earliest surviving Autumn Annals or an independent work. In any case,
Chinese historical text to be arranged on annalistic scholars have found it by far the most useful among the
principles. The text is extremely concise, and, if all of the three surviving 'commentaries' both as a historical source
commentaries are excluded, is only about 16,000 words; for the period and as a guide to interpreting the Annals.
thus its meaning can only be appreciated with the aid of Like many later Confucian histories, Spring and Autumn
ancient commentaries, especially the traditional Annals incorporates implied condemnation of usurpations,
Commentary of Zuo. murder, incest, and other unprincipled behaviors.
Although it has traditionally been regarded as having been Classic of Music
compiled by Confucius (after a claim to this effect by
Mencius), and is included as one of the Five Classics, few The Classic of Music (樂經, Yue Jing) is sometime referred
modern scholars believe that Confucius had much to as the sixth classic, but was lost by the time of the Han
influence on the formation of the text; this is now assigned Dynasty.
to various chroniclers from the State of Lu.
Content and organization
In early China, "spring and autumn" was a commonly used
metonymy for the year as a whole, and the phrase was
used as a title for the chronicles of several Chinese states
during this period. In the Mozi, the chapter Obvious
Existence of Ghosts refers to several Spring and Autumn
Annals of the Zhou, Yan, Song, and Qi dynasties. All these
texts are now lost; only the chronicle of the State of Lu has
survived.
The scope of events recorded in the book is quite limited.
The focus is on various feudal states' diplomatic relations,
alliances and military actions, as well as births and deaths
among the ruling families. The chronicle also takes note of
natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, locusts, and
solar eclipses, since these were seen as reflecting the
influence of heaven on the world of humans.
Events are narrated in chronological order, dated by the
reign-year of the Duke of Lu, the season, the month and
the day according to the Chinese sexagenary cycle. The
annalistic structure is followed strictly, to the extent of
listing the four seasons of each year even when no events
are recorded. The style is terse and impersonal, and gives
no clue as to the actual authorship.
Commentaries
Since the text of this book is terse and its contents limited,
a number of commentaries were composed to explain and
expand on its meanings. The Book of Han, volume 30, lists
five commentaries:
 The Commentary of Zou (鄒氏傳)
 The Commentary of Jia (夾氏傳)
 The Commentary of Gongyang (公羊傳)
 The Commentary of Guliang (榖梁傳)
 The Commentary of Zuo (左氏傳)
No text of the Zou or Jia commentaries has survived. The
Gongyang and Guliang commentaries were compiled
during the second century B.C.E., although modern
scholars had suggested they probably incorporate earlier
written and oral traditions of explanation from the period
of Warring States. They are based upon different editions