Not necessarily. If you want to study the history of thought or the ancient history of China, you'd better have a look. This is to improve the level, but it is not necessary (learning the history of ideas is necessary). Personally, I think the Four Books can be read by everyone in China, not just students of literature, history and philosophy, so I suggest reading them, which is very helpful to understand the spiritual world of China people before. It's up to you, because even ancient scholars have just mastered it. To understand all the Five Classics requires a high level and professional guidance. If you look at the vernacular version, forget it. It is best to use Zhonghua Book Company or the Thirteen Classics of Shanghai Ancient Books for annotation. These are all annotations of the Qing Dynasty, which are quite professional. The most important thing to learn history is to read history books, that is, the first four histories. Historical Records, Han History, Later Han History, History of the Three Kingdoms, and which section of history books do you like to read. I don't think you are reading world history when you ask about the Four Books and Five Classics. So these basic history books of China still need to be read. There are also some works by everyone. For example, Chen Yinque, Wang Guowei and Deng Guangming in Song Dynasty, Tang in Wei, Jin, Sui and Tang Dynasties, Huang Yongnian and Han Rulin in Yuan Dynasty, Yan Gengwang in institutional history, Qian Mu and Yu Yingshi in ideological history. Anyway, every period has everyone's, so we must read something about academic history.
Personally, I think the Four Books and Five Classics are not very helpful for studying the history below Qin and Han Dynasties, but as a kind of cultivation, I still encourage everyone to have a look. As for Zishu, I think Laozi and Zhuangzi are the most comfortable. To take notes, I don't take notes. Reading them is basically equivalent to philosophical speculation and has nothing to do with history. In addition, I think both Xunzi Xunzi and Han Feizi Xianxue can be read. There is History of Han, Art and Literature, and Sima Qian recorded On Six Essentials written by his father. These are all comments on pre-Qin philosophers, academic comments, and they are all quite good.