1. Etiquette. The etiquette in the "Six Arts of the Gentleman" refers to the five etiquettes, namely: auspicious etiquette, unlucky etiquette, military etiquette, guest etiquette, and honorable etiquette. "Etiquette" is a very complex concept. The Zhou Dynasty emphasized "the use of etiquette to stabilize the country", and Confucianism attached great importance to "the system of etiquette". In ancient times, "rituals" evolved from simple to complex, and were once a very important system. Confucius said: "If you don't know etiquette, you can't stand up."
2. Music. The music in the "Six Arts of the Gentleman" is very easy to understand and very specific. It refers to six sets of songs and dances, namely: "Yunmen Dajuan", "Xianchi", "Dashao", "Daxia", "Daxia" "婩", "大武". In ancient times, when there were important sacrificial activities, people would use these six sets of songs and dances to express their piety. As a gentleman in ancient times, he must have a firm grasp of these six sets of songs and dances. But it is a pity that when the six music was passed down to the Han Dynasty, only "two music" remained, namely "Da Shao" and "Da Wu", and the remaining four music were lost.
3. Shoot. Archery among the "Six Arts of the Gentleman" is archery. You read that right. Ancient literati also had to practice martial arts and be proficient in bow and horse. "Six Arts of the Gentleman" defines "shooting" in detail, which are: Bai Ya, Shen Lian, Yan Zhu, Xiang Chi, and Jing Yi. These are five different ways of archery, among which "white arrow" means that the arrow penetrates the target and the arrowhead turns white, which means the bow and arrow are powerful enough. "Well Yi" refers to hitting the bull's-eye with four consecutive arrows. However, later generations of Confucian scholars did not fully inherit the "Six Arts of the Gentleman" advocated by Confucius, and they gave up practicing martial arts.
4. Royal. Chariot in the "Six Arts of the Gentleman" refers to the skill of driving carriages and chariots, not riding horses. Ancient horse-drawn carriages were an important means of transportation, and chariots were even more important strategic resources. In ancient times, four war horses pulled one chariot, which was called "one chariot". The "Kingdom of Thousand Chariots" represented that it had many chariots. The "royal" among the six arts of the gentleman is more inclined to etiquette than combat. For example, "Yu" has the expressions "Ming He Luan" and "Chasing Birds Left", which means that a gentleman should pay attention to the sound of the wheels when driving, and shoot arrows from the left when chasing prey.
5. Books. Among the "Six Arts of the Gentleman", only the skill of "calligraphy" has an intersection with "playing, chess, calligraphy and painting", and that is calligraphy. As the saying goes, "Words are like the person they are." Good calligraphy is a prerequisite for ancient literati. Let’s not talk about calligraphy masters like Wang Xizhi. Even the calligraphy of Jinshi in the late Qing Dynasty can be called "printed style".
6. Count. Among the Six Arts of the Gentleman, "number" refers to calculation and arithmetic, which is based on "Nine Chapters on Arithmetic". Although it seems that the "Six Arts of the Gentleman" are far away from us, in fact they are not. At present, the "Six Arts of the Gentleman" has evolved into a more practical subject and is promoted in schools. For example, "number" can be interpreted as natural science and rational thinking, including logical judgment, analysis, inference, imagination, and operations research. In the current school system, science and engineering subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology can all be regarded as "numbers."