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{{Short description|Core texts of Confucianism}}
{{Infobox Chinese
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| t = {{linktext|四書五經}}
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| gr = Syhshu Wuujing
| myr = Sz̀shū Wǔjīng
| w = Ssŭ<sup>4</sup> Shu<sup>1</sup> Wu<sup>3</sup> Ching<sup>1</sup>'
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| wuu = Si-sy ngo-king
| mc = Sìj-sho ngú-keng
| qn = {{linktext|Tứ thư Ngũ kinh}}
| chuhan = 四書五經
| kanji = {{linktext|四書五経}}
| kana = ししょごきょう
| romaji = Shisho Gokyō
| hangul = 사서오경
| hanja = 四書五經
| rr = Saseoogyeong
| mr = Sasŏogyŏng
}}
{{Confucianism}}

The '''Four Books and Five Classics''' are authoritative and important books associated with [[Confucianism]], written before 300 BC.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bleeker, C. J. and G. Widengren |title=Historia Religionum, Volume 2 Religions of the Present |publisher=BRILL |year=1971 |isbn=90-04-02598-7 |page=478}}</ref>  They are traditionally believed to have been either written, edited or commented by [[Confucius]] or one of his disciples. Starting in the [[Han dynasty]], they became the core of the [[Chinese classics]] on which students were tested in the [[Imperial examination]] system.

== Four Books ==
The Four Books ({{zh|t=四書|p=Sìshū|labels=no}}) are [[Chinese classic texts]] illustrating the core value and belief systems in [[Confucianism]]. They were selected by intellectual [[Zhu Xi]] in the [[Song dynasty]] to serve as general introduction to Confucian thought, and they were, in the [[Ming dynasty|Ming]] and [[Qing dynasty|Qing]] dynasties, made the core of the official curriculum for the [[Imperial examination|civil service examinations]].<ref name="Gardner" /> More information of them are as follows:

===List===
; ''[[Great Learning]]''
: Originally one chapter in the ''[[Book of Rites]]''. It consists of a short main text attributed to [[Confucius]] and nine commentary chapters by [[Zengzi]], one of the [[disciples of Confucius]].  Its importance is illustrated by Zengzi's foreword that this is the gateway of learning. <br />It is significant because it expresses many themes of Chinese philosophy and political thinking, and has therefore been extremely influential both in classical and modern Chinese thought. 
<!-- (can be devoted to the respective articles instead)
It links together individual action in the form of self-cultivation with higher goals such as ultimate world peace as well as linking together the spiritual and the material.  In addition, by defining the path of learning (dao) in governmental and social terms, ''the Great Learning'' both links the spiritual with the practical, and creates a vision of [[Tao|dao]] that is radically different from that presented by [[Daoism]].  In particular, ''the Great Learning'' sets Confucianism as being this-worldly rather than other-worldly.  Finally, ''the Great Learning'' also creates a conservative political discourse.  Instead of basing its authority on an external deity, the Great Learning bases its authority on the practices of ancient kings.
--> 
; ''[[Doctrine of the Mean]]''
: Another chapter in ''[[Book of Rites]]'', attributed to [[Confucius]]'s grandson [[Zisi]]. The purpose of this small, 33-chapter book is to demonstrate the usefulness of a golden way to gain perfect virtue. It focuses on the [[Tao|Way]] (道) that is prescribed by a heavenly mandate not only to the ruler but to everyone.

; ''[[Analects]]''
: A compilation of speeches by [[Confucius]] and his disciples, as well as the discussions they held. Since Confucius's time, the ''Analects'' has heavily influenced the philosophy and moral values of [[China]] and later other [[East Asia]]n countries as well. The [[Imperial examinations]], started in the [[Sui dynasty]] and eventually abolished with the founding of the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]], emphasized Confucian studies and expected candidates to quote and apply the words of Confucius in their essays.
<!--
A particular point of interest lies in Chapter X of the book, which contains detailed descriptions of Confucius's behaviors in various daily activities. This has been pointed at by [[Voltaire]] and [[Ezra Pound]] to show how much Confucius was a mere human. [[Simon Leys]], who recently translated ''Analects'' into French and English, said that the book may well have been the first in human history to describe the life of a man.
-->
; ''[[Mencius (book)|Mencius]]''
: A collection of conversations of the scholar [[Mencius]] with kings of his time. In contrast to the sayings of [[Confucius]], which are short and self-contained, the ''Mencius'' consists of long dialogues with extensive prose.
<!--
Mencius argued that human beings are born with an innate moral sense, but that society corrupted it through lack of a positive cultivating influence. Therefore, the goal of moral cultivation is to return to the people's innate morality. Consistent with his belief in the individual, Mencius contended that it was permissible for people to overthrow or kill a ruler who ignored the public's needs or ruled harshly.
-->

==Five Classics==
The Five Classics ({{zh|t=五經|p=Wǔjīng|labels=no}}) are five pre-[[Qin dynasty|Qin]] Chinese books that form part of the traditional Confucian canon. Several of the texts were already prominent by the [[Warring States period]]. [[Mencius]], the leading Confucian scholar of the time, regarded the ''Spring and Autumn Annals'' as being equally important as the semi-legendary chronicles of earlier periods. During the [[Han dynasty|Western Han dynasty]], which adopted Confucianism as its official ideology, these texts became part of the state-sponsored curriculum. It was during this period that the texts first began to be considered together as a set collection, and to be called collectively the "Five Classics".<ref>Nylan, Michael. [https://web.archive.org/web/20131029205031/http://yalepress.yale.edu/YupBooks/pdf/0300081855.pdf (Internet Archive Copy) ''The Five "Confucian" Classics'']. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001.</ref>

===List===
;''[[Classic of Poetry]]''
:A collection of 305 poems divided into 160 folk songs, 105 festal songs sung at court ceremonies, and 40 hymns and eulogies sung at sacrifices to heroes and ancestral spirits of the royal house. 
;''[[Book of Documents]]''
:A collection of documents and speeches alleged to have been written by rulers and officials of the early Zhou period and before. It is possibly the oldest Chinese narrative, and may date from the 6th century BC.  It includes examples of early Chinese prose.
;''[[Book of Rites]]''
:Describes ancient rites, social forms and court ceremonies. The version studied today is a re-worked version compiled by scholars in the third century BC rather than the original text, which is said to have been edited by Confucius himself. 
;''[[I Ching]]'' (''Book of Changes'')
:The book contains a [[divination]] system comparable to Western [[geomancy]] or the West African [[Ifá]] system. In [[Western world|Western]] cultures and modern East Asia, it is still widely used for this purpose.
;''[[Spring and Autumn Annals]]''
:A historical record of the [[State of Lu]], Confucius's native state, 722–481 BC attributed to Confucius.

The ''[[Classic of Music]]'' is sometimes considered the sixth classic but was lost.

Up to the Western Han, authors would typically list the Classics in the order Poems-Documents-Rituals-Changes-Spring and Autumn. However, from the Eastern Han the default order instead became Changes-Documents-Poems-Rituals-Spring and Autumn.

Authors and editors of later eras have also appropriated the terms "Book" and "Classic" and applied them ironically to compendia focused on patently low-brow subject matter. Examples include the ''Classic of Whoring'' (''Piaojing'' 嫖經) and Zhang Yingyu's ''A New Book for Foiling Swindles'' (''Dupian Xinshu'' 杜騙新書, ca. 1617), which is known colloquially as ''[[The Book of Swindles]]'' or ''The Classic of Swindles''.

==Authorship==
Traditionally, it was thought that Confucius himself had compiled or edited the texts of the Five Classics. The scholar Yao Xinzhong allows that there are good reasons to believe that Confucian classics took shape in the hands of Confucius, but that "nothing can be taken for granted in the matter of the early versions of the classics." From the time of the Western Han dynasty, Yao continues, most Confucian scholars believed that Confucius re-collected and edited the prior works, thereby "fixing" the versions of the ancient writings which became the Classics. Confucian tradition believes that the Shijing collection was edited by Confucius from a collection of 3,000 pieces to its traditional form of 305 pieces. In the twentieth century, many Chinese scholars still held to this tradition. The [[New Confucianism|New Confucian]] scholar, [[Xiong Shili]] (1885–1968), for instance, held that the Six Classics were the final versions "fixed up" <!-- "fixed up" is Yao's term --> by Confucius in his old age. Other scholars had and have different views. The [[Old Texts|Old Text School]], for instance, relied on versions found in the Han dynasty which supposedly survived the Qin dynasty [[Burning of books and burying of scholars|burning of the books]] but many of them held that these works had not been edited by Confucius but survived directly from the [[Zhou dynasty]].

For quite different reasons, mainly having to do with [[Doubting Antiquity School|modern textual scholarship]], a greater number of twentieth century scholars both in China and in other countries hold that Confucius had nothing to do with editing the classics, much less writing them. Yao Xinzhong reports that still other scholars hold the "pragmatic" view that the history of the Classics is a long one and that Confucius and his followers, although they did not intend to create a system of classics, "contributed to their formation."<ref>Hsin-chung Yao, An Introduction to Confucianism (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000), pp. 52–54.</ref> In any case, it is undisputed that for most of the last 2,000 years, Confucius was believed to have either written or edited these classics.

The most important events in the textual career of these classics were the adoption of Confucianism as state orthodoxy in the [[Han dynasty]], which led to their preservation, and the "renaissance" of Confucianism in the [[Song dynasty]], which led to their being made the basis of [[Confucian orthodoxy]] in the [[Imperial examinations|imperial examination system]] in the following dynasties. The [[Neo-Confucianism|Neo-Confucian]] sage [[Zhu Xi]] (1130–1200) fixed the texts of the Four Books and wrote commentaries whose new interpretations became accepted as being those of Confucius himself.<ref name="Gardner">Daniel K. Gardner. ''The Four Books: The Basic Teachings of the Later Confucian Tradition''. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-87220-826-1}}.</ref>

==Legacy==
Under the reign of [[Emperor Wu of Han]], the Five Classics and Four Books became the basis of the [[Imperial examination]] system.{{sfn|Kracke|1967|p=253}}

==See also==
{{Div col}}
* [[Chinese literature]]
* [[Thirteen Classics]]
* [[Daozang]]
* [[Daodejing]]
* [[Laozi]]
* [[Kongzi]]
* [[Confucius]]
* [[Mencius|Mengzi]]
* [[Mencius]]
* [[Hanfeizi]]
* [[Gongsunlongzi]]
* [[Zhuangzi (book)|Zhuangzi]]
* [[Liezi]]
* [[Wenzi]]
* [[Mozi]]
{{div end}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{Cite book |last=Kracke |first=E. A. Jr. |title=Chinese Thoughts & Institutions |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1967 |editor-last=Fairbank |editor-first=John K. |location=Chicago |chapter=Region, Family, and Individual in the Chinese Examination System |orig-year=1957}}

==External links==
* [http://www.chinaknowledge.de/Literature/Classics/jingbu.html Ulrich Theobald, "Literary Category of Confucian Classics"] at ChinaKnowledge – a universal guide for China studies
* [https://pages.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/chin/CanonRu.html Donald Jordan (University of California, San Diego): The Canonical Books of Confucianism]

{{Four Books and Five Classics}}
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{{Religious Confucianism}}

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[[Category:Four Books and Five Classics| ]]
[[Category:Chinese classic texts]]
[[Category:Confucian texts]]
[[Category:Chinese literature]]
[[Category:Chinese philosophy]]
[[Category:Zhu Xi]]
[[Category:Series of Chinese books]]
[[Category:Chinese Classical Studies]]