The four books, also known as the four sub-books, refer to The Analects of Confucius, Mencius, University and The Doctrine of the Mean.
The Five Classics are The Book of Songs, Shangshu, Book of Rites, Zhouyi and Chunqiu.
Brief introduction of the five classics
The Book of Songs
The Book of Songs was called "Poetry" or "Poetry 300" in the pre-Qin period, and it was China's first poetry collection. Collected 305 poems before the mid-Spring and Autumn Period. The Book of Songs is considered to be compiled by Confucius. But scholars believe that it was compiled by Lu. [5] The Book of Songs is divided into three parts: wind, elegance and ode. Wind is a folk song, elegance is the orthodox elegance of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and Fu is the dance music for the upper class to sacrifice to the ancestral temple. This book widely reflects all aspects of social life at that time, and is known as the encyclopedia of life in ancient society, which has a far-reaching impact on future generations. There were three schools in Han Dynasty: Lu, Qi and Han, followed by Mao's poems. Only Shi Mao has survived to this day.
minister
In ancient times, Shangshu was called "book", which was a general term for recording words and events, mainly recording the speeches and activities of emperors. By the time Confucius arrived, there were only about 100 copies left, which were quoted by hundreds of schools and sorted out by Confucius. During the Qin dynasty, books collected by the people were basically burned, and books collected by the state were also destroyed by the war. During the period of Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty, Professor Qin Fusheng wrote 28 preserved Shangshu, which were written in the popular official script at that time and were called Jinwen Shangshu. In the title of Shangshu, "Shang" refers to "ancient times". It is the earliest extant compilation of historical documents from Yao Shun to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and its basic content is to record the imperial edicts of ancient emperors and the conversations between monarch and minister.
The last years of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. King Lu * * * demolished Confucius' old house and got the seal script Shangshu before Qin Dynasty from the interlayer of the wall. It is called the ancient literature Shangshu, and there are 16 articles besides the same 28 articles as Jinwen Shangshu. After the Western Jin Dynasty, Shangshu was completely lost. In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Luo Mei compiled The Ancient History of Confucius, of which 28 (but 33 were analyzed) and 25 have been handed down to this day. At present, The Ancient History of Confucius is considered as a fake book. [6]
The Book of Rites
The Book of Rites, also known as The Book of Rites of Dai Xiao, consists of 49 articles, which is a collection of the literature of the Book of Rites from pre-Qin to Qin and Han dynasties. It was originally compiled by Dai Sheng in the Western Han Dynasty, not by one person. [7] Dai Sheng was originally a doctor in the book "Yili". The book "Yili" has only 17 articles, most of which were written by literati, so the Confucian scholars in the Han Dynasty used all the documents they could see at that time for their own use. Its contents are quite complicated, including describing etiquette, describing government decrees, explaining the Book of Rites, recording Confucius' remarks, recording Confucius' timely personnel, studying etiquette, discussing etiquette or learning, recording system, recording anecdotes and miscellaneous notes. [8] Zheng Xuan made a note for it in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and its words were fluent and easy to read, which spread widely. In the Tang Dynasty, it replaced the Book of Rites and became one of the Five Classics.
Zhouyi
Book of Changes, also known as Book of Changes and Book of Changes, is an ancient divination book, including Book of Changes and Book of Changes. The text of Jing narrates 64 hexagrams and 384 hexagrams. Biography is seven kinds of ten articles to explain the names, meanings, words and phrases of hexagrams, which are called Ten Wings, Yi Biography and Yi Da Biography. The eight diagrams and sixty-four hexagrams appeared in ancient times before the Western Zhou Dynasty. Some scholars believe that this classic was compiled in the late Shang Dynasty and early Zhou Dynasty, and the biography was written in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, not by one person. [9] The ancients believed that it was compiled by ancient sages such as Fuxi, Zhou Wenwang, Duke Zhou and Confucius. The content extensively records all aspects of the Western Zhou society, including historical value, ideological value and literary value. Its outer layer is mysterious, but its inner philosophy is profound.
The Spring and Autumn Annals
Spring and Autumn Annals is the general name of historical records, but only Lu Chunqiu has been handed down. Its editor is generally believed to be Confucius, who was captured in the west in the 14th year (48 BC1), so Confucius felt that his thoughts were not in the world, so he took Lv Chunqiu for processing and editing. The chronicle of this book covers the period from Lu Yin's year (722 BC) to Lu Aigong's fourteenth year (479 BC), ***242 years. Later generations therefore called the early Eastern Zhou Dynasty the Spring and Autumn Period. Its book, written in the Lu era, records the affairs of various vassal States and is the earliest existing chronicle. The purpose of keeping a diary is to advocate morality and "courtesy". The characters in the Spring and Autumn Period are extremely concise, so there are three parts to explain the original text: Biography of Ram, Biography of Gu Liang and Biography of Zuo.