The "six arts" in ancient times refer to: etiquette, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics.
1. Etiquette
Etiquette is etiquette. The ancients had a set of behavioral norms for daily matters, big and small. You must salute when you see your parents and elders, you must salute when you see people with different official positions, and there are also some daily activities. There are different etiquettes for sacrifices and funerals, such as: Ji Li (sacrifice etiquette), Ji Li (funeral etiquette), Jun Li (military etiquette), Bin Li (the etiquette of princes meeting the emperor), Jiali (daily etiquette) . As a country of etiquette, our country is a compulsory course for ancient students. If you don't do it correctly, you will be laughed at, and it may even affect your promotion and friendship.
2. Music
Music is music, and it also includes poetry and dance. The Han Yuefu poems we learn now, as well as the poetry of the Song Dynasty, were all sung in ancient times. The earliest collection of poems in my country, the Book of Songs, is also sung, including the familiar "Jian Jia". Therefore, gentlemen in ancient times also had to learn to enjoy themselves. Ancient musical instruments mainly include chimes, chimes, xuns, drums, harps, harps, shengs, Xiaos, etc.
3. Shooting
Shooting is archery, including small arrows and large crossbows. This is an important weapon in ancient times. A gentleman is not only good at literature but also at martial arts, so archery is also taught in class.
4. Yu
Yu means driving a carriage. It is equivalent to taking a driver's license test in modern times. In ancient times, only ordinary people could afford to ride in a carriage. There is a saying that "the emperor has six carriages and the princes have four carriages." Only the emperor is qualified to ride in a six-horse carriage. Low-level officials can only ride donkeys, while ordinary people rely on oxcarts or their feet. Therefore, gentlemen in ancient times also had to learn to drive a carriage.
5. Books
Books include calligraphy, reading and writing articles. Some say it includes painting. In ancient times, after the Sui and Tang Dynasties, there were imperial examinations, so the Four Books and Five Classics, Confucian classics, and poetry writing were taught in schools. Before the imperial examination, Confucian classics were mainly taught in schools, but it was not as targeted as in later generations. It was more about the teacher's own preferences. The teacher would teach which subjects he studied deeply.
6. Numbers
Numbers are numbers, and they also include the "numbers, principles, and images" in the Zhouyi Bagua. Famous mathematical works in ancient my country include "Nine Chapters on Arithmetic", "Sumu Jing", etc. The "Pythagorean Theorem" and pi are also achievements in mathematics in our country.