Zhu Xi of the Song Dynasty collectively referred to "The Great Learning", "The Doctrine of the Mean", "The Analects" and "Mencius" as the Four Books.
It comes from the four representative figures of early Confucianism, Confucius, Mencius, Zisi, and Zeng Shen. The Neo-Confucian Zhu Xi of the Southern Song Dynasty annotated the Analects of Confucius, and also extracted the Doctrine of the Mean and the Great Learning from the Book of Rites. , divided into chapters and sentences, annotated them, and paired them with "Mencius", titled "Collected Commentary on Chapters and Sentences of the Four Books". The name "Four Books" was first established, and it was later used as an introductory book for learning. The examination subjects were set in the second year of Emperor Qing's reign in the Yuan Dynasty, and the questions must be set within the "Four Books". The meaning of the questions was stipulated based on Zhu Xi's "Collected Annotations". The Ming and Qing Dynasties continued unchanged. Preface to Gu Zhai Zhen written by Fang Hui in the Yuan Dynasty: "I have always followed Zhu's 'Four Books' in recent times." See "Four Books".
The "Four Books" is the collective name for the four works: "The Great Learning", "The Doctrine of the Mean", "The Analects of Confucius" and "Mencius".
It is said that they come from the four representative figures of early Confucianism, Zeng Shen, Zisi, Confucius, and Mencius, so they are called "The Book of Four Sons" (also known as "The Four Sons"), or simply "The Book of Four Sons". "Four Books". In the early years of Shaoxi's reign (1190), Emperor Guangzong of the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi, a famous Neo-Confucian at that time, brought together "Great Learning", "The Analects of Confucius", "Mencius" and "The Doctrine of the Mean" in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, and published them as a set of classics. This Confucian scholar believes that "first read "The Great Learning" to determine its scale; secondly read "The Analects" to determine its foundation; secondly read "Mencius" to see its progress; secondly read "The Doctrine of the Mean" to learn from the ancients. "The subtleties of the Four Books" and once said that "the "Four Sons" and the "Ladder of the Six Classics" ("Zhu Zi Yu Lei") Zhu Xi wrote "Collected Commentary on Chapters and Sentences of the Four Books", which has epoch-making significance.
"The Great Learning" of the "Four Books": "The Great Learning" was originally a chapter in the "Book of Rites" and had never been published separately before the Southern Song Dynasty. It is said to have been written by Zeng Shen (505 BC - 434 BC), a disciple of Confucius. From the Tang Dynasty when Han Yu and Li Ao maintained Taoism and praised "The Great Learning" (and "The Doctrine of the Mean"), to the Second Cheng Dynasty in the Northern Song Dynasty, they praised and publicized it in every possible way, and even called "The Great Learning, Confucius's last words, the gateway to virtue for beginners". In the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi inherited Ercheng's thoughts and extracted "The Great Learning" from the "Book of Rites" and placed it alongside "The Analects", "Mencius" and "The Doctrine of the Mean". One of the Four Books. According to the views of Zhu Xi and Cheng Yi, another famous scholar in the Song Dynasty, "The Great Learning" is a suicide note left by Confucius and his disciples, and is a popular reading of Confucianism. Therefore, Zhu Xi listed it as the first of the "Four Books".
"The Doctrine of the Mean" in the "Four Books": "The Doctrine of the Mean" was originally a chapter in the "Book of Rites" and had never been published separately before the Southern Song Dynasty. It is generally believed that it was written by Zisi (483 BC - 402 BC), the grandson of Confucius. "Historical Records: The Family of Confucius" states that "Ziusi wrote "The Doctrine of the Mean". From the Tang Dynasty when Han Yu and Li Ao maintained Taoism and praised "The Doctrine of the Mean" (and "The Great Learning"), to the Second Cheng Dynasty in the Northern Song Dynasty, they praised and promoted the Doctrine of the Mean in every possible way, and even considered "The Doctrine of the Mean" to be "the inner teachings of Confucius", and then to the Southern Song Dynasty when Zhu Xi inherited it After the Second Cheng Thought, the Doctrine of the Mean was extracted from the Book of Rites and placed alongside The Analects, Mencius, and Daxue. When Zhu Xi wrote the Annotations on Chapters and Sentences of the Four Books, it became one of the Four Books. . From the basic point of view of "The Doctrine of the Mean" and "Mencius", they are basically the same. However, the existing version of "The Doctrine of the Mean" has been revised by Confucian scholars of the Qin Dynasty, and was roughly written shortly after Qin unified the country. Therefore, the method of each article is different from that of "The Great Learning". Instead of taking the two words starting with "righteousness" as the title, the title is a summary of the central content of the article.
The Analects of Confucius in the Four Books: The Analects of Confucius is a book that records the words and deeds of Confucius and his students. Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC), whose surname was Qiu and courtesy name Zhongni, was born in Zou Yi (now Qufu, Shandong Province) of the state of Lu during the Spring and Autumn Period. The founder of Confucianism, the most famous thinker, politician, and educator in ancient China, had a profound 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. It was recorded and compiled by Confucius's students and his students who retransmitted it. The Analects is a book that records the words and deeds of Confucius and his students. "The Analects of Confucius" involves many aspects such as philosophy, politics, economics, education, literature and art, etc. It is very rich in content and is the most important classic of Confucianism. In terms of expression, the language of "The Analects" is concise and vivid, making it a model of quotation-style prose. In terms of arrangement, "The Analects" does not have a strict compilation style. Each article is a chapter, and chapters are collected into chapters. There is no close connection between chapters and chapters, but they are roughly classified, and there are repeated chapters. By the Han Dynasty, there were three versions of the Analects circulating: "The Analects of Lu" (20 chapters), "The Analects of Qi" (22 chapters), and "The Analects of Ancient Chinese" (21 chapters). At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zheng Xuan used the Analects of Lu as the base, compiled a new version with reference to the Analects of Qi and the Analects of Ancient Chinese, and added annotations. After Zheng Xuan's annotations were circulated, "The Analects of Qi" and "The Analects of Ancient Chinese" were gradually lost. The main versions of the annotations of "The Analects" in subsequent dynasties are: "The Analects of Confucius" by He Yan in the Three Kingdoms period, "The Analects of Confucius" by Huang Kan of the Liang Dynasty in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, "Analects of Confucius" by Xing Yan in the Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi's "Analects of Confucius" in the Qing Dynasty Liu Baonan's "The Analects of Confucius" and so on.
"Mencius" of "Four Books": "Mencius" is a book that records the words and deeds of Mencius and his students. Mencius (about 372 BC - 289 BC), named Ke and Ziyu, was a native of Zou State (now southeast of Zou County, Shandong Province) in the middle of the Warring States Period, not far from Qufu, the hometown of Confucius. He is a famous thinker, politician, educator, and successor of Confucius' teachings. By the time of Emperor Xiaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi compiled the "Four Books" and included them in "Mencius", officially raising "Mencius" to a very high status.
After the Yuan and Ming dynasties, it became a part of the imperial examination and became a must-read for scholars. "Mencius" is a book that records the words and deeds of Mencius and his students. Like Confucius, Mencius also led his students to travel to Wei, Qi, Song, Lu, Teng, Xue and other countries, and once served as a guest of King Xuan of Qi. Since his political ideas were not valued as much as those of Confucius, he returned to his hometown to gather disciples to give lectures, and wrote a book with his student Wan Zhang and others, "Preface to "Poetry" and "Book", describing Zhongni's meaning, and wrote "Seven Chapters of "Mencius"" ("Historical Records: Biography of Mencius and Xunqing") Zhao Qi compared "Mencius" with "The Analects of Confucius" in "Mencius' Inscription" and believed that "Mencius" was "written in imitation of the saints". Therefore, although "Hanshu·Yiwenzhi" only places "Mencius" in the Zhuzilue and regards it as a book of disciples, in fact, in the minds of the Han Dynasty people, it has been regarded as a "biography" book auxiliary to the "Book of Classics" . Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty assigned doctors to each of The Analects of Confucius, The Classic of Filial Piety, Mencius, and Erya, and they were called "doctors of biography." By the time of the Later Shu in the Five Dynasties, Meng Chang, the Lord of Later Shu, ordered eleven classics to be carved on stone in regular script, including "Mencius". This may be the beginning of "Mencius" being included in the "Book of Classics". By the time of Emperor Xiaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi compiled the "Four Books" and included them in "Mencius", officially raising "Mencius" to a very high status.