Thirteen kinds of Confucian documents have long been "classic". In the Han Dynasty, Yi, Shi, Shu, Li and Chunqiu were regarded as the "Five Classics", which were highly valued by the imperial court and stood at the top of the philosophers. There were "Nine Classics" in the Tang Dynasty, which were also designed for scholars and used to select scholars. The so-called "Nine Classics" includes three biographies: Yi, Shi, Shu, Yu, and Chun Qiu. As an adult, Tang Wenzong studied stone carving in Guo Zi, which benefited from The Analects of Confucius, Er Ya and Xiao Jing in addition to the Nine Classics. In the Five Dynasties, Meng Chang, the master of Shu, carved the Eleven Classics, and included Mencius in addition to the Classic of Filial Piety and Erya, making it into the list of classics for the first time. In the Book of Rites, Zhu, a scholar in the Southern Song Dynasty, juxtaposed Daxue and The Doctrine of the Mean with The Analects of Confucius and Mencius, forming four books that people are familiar with today, which were officially recognized, and Mencius officially became a classic. So far, thirteen Confucian documents have established their classic status. During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the scriptures of the Thirteen Classics were carved on stones, and Ruan Yuan co-edited Notes on the Thirteen Classics. Since then, the name of Thirteen Classics and its revered position in Confucian classics have been more deeply rooted in people's hearts.
Up to now, the traditional concept of four books and five classics:
Four books: University, The Doctrine of the Mean, The Analects of Confucius and Mencius.
Five Classics: The Book of Changes, The Book of Songs, The Book of History, The Book of Rites and The Spring and Autumn Period.