Three Character Classic: 三字经

By Ink-It Lee

This is a English translation of the popular Chinese children classic, Three Character Classic (三字经) and is based on the Qing dynasty version that is in use today in China.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ink-It Lee
• Release date: May 8, 2017
• ISBN: 9789810988104

Ink-It Lee

Translator/writer who likes to read, delves into superstitious and beliefs,and who is curious about many things.

Book preview

Three

Characters

Classic

三字经

Written by Wang Yinglin (Southern Song)

Exegesis by Wang Xiang (Qing)

原著： 宋 - 王应麟

清代人： 王相的训诂本

A bilingual compilation by

Ink It Lee

李奕毅

Three characters classics

三字经

Compiled and Translated by

Ink It Lee, 李奕毅

©2017 by Ink It Lee

First published in Singapore in 2017.

All rights reserved. No part(s) of this book may be reproduced in any form - by photostat, microfilm, xerography, or any other means or incorporated into any information retrieval system, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of the copyright owner.

Note:

You need to install Asian fonts to read the contents in this book.

ISBN 978-981-09-8810-4

Disclaimer

This book is intended to provide information about and is also a translation on the subject matter covered. It is designed with the understanding that the author and the publisher are not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If legal advice or other professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. 

While every effort has been made to make the book as accurate where possible, the vague nature of the subject covered means that interpretation is not always straight forward, plus there may be mistakes both typographical and in content itself.

Therefore, the text here should be used only as general guide and not as an ultimate source of the subject matter covered. 

The author and the publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information and translation covered in this book.

Preface/序言

Before I started work on this, I was reviewing the different versions for the Three Characters Classic and decided to adopt the more popular Qing Dynasty version. Even for this version, I’ve encountered different interpretations by various scholars. I personally feel that the longer versions which contain information on China's more recent history are not as critical as the elementary text itself, mastering the right way to learn is more relevant than remembering so many historical facts all at once. When taught the proper skills and techniques, any student can go on to gather facts and learn more about the world.

While every effort has been made to check that the Chinese text and interpretation is faithful and correct, there may be some errors and omissions due to my oversight or my lack of access to the proper references. If that is indeed the case, please do write to [e-mail] to inform me.

I have also reviewed other English translations of this classic, notably the well-known version by Herbert Giles. Perhaps the best way to sum this up is that I wish to offer an alternative translation to a charming classical text for readers to consider and compare.

I have included a brief introduction with the main text as well as some supplementary information that may help readers appreciate the classic better. I hope you will enjoy this work just as I have enjoyed the research and hours of pouring this compilation.

在开始这项工作之前，我翻阅了《三字经》的不同版本，最后决定采用流传较广的清代版本。即使是这个版本，我也发现不同学者提出的不同解释。与其了解更多中国近代史，我个人认为，作为一个基本文本，学习正确的学习途径往往比记得这许多历史文献更为重要。在掌握到正确的学习技巧时，任何学生都能够靠自己去寻找、了解更多信息。

虽然我尽量审查中文文本和解释，但若因我个人疏忽而导致任何遗漏和错误，请电邮[e-mail]通知我。

我也查看其他《三字经》的英文翻译，特别是著名的吉尔斯赫伯特版本。在这里，我希望提供一个不同的翻译供读者们参考和比较。

我还简单地介绍主要的文本以及加了些补充资料，希望这些能帮助读者更好地欣赏这个经典作品。

Table of Contents

Introduction/介绍

Summary内容提要

The Author作者

全文/ The Text

Supplementary Information

Picture Credits

References

Introduction/介绍

The Three Characters Classic, or San Zi Jing (《三字经》) is a Chinese classical text for young children and is often attributed to Wang Yinglin (王应麟, AD 1223–1296), an official who lived during the Southern Song era. Since it first appeared, there had been numerous versions as later writers analyzed or expounded on the original work. The version chosen in this book is based on the more popular Qing Dynasty edition with 1,134 characters. This is one of the easiest to read and understand.

The Three Characters Classic formed the basis of elementary education for children, along with Hundred Family Surnames (《百家姓》, Bai Jia Xing) and Thousand Character Classic (《千字文》, Qian Zi Wen). Together these three books are known as the San Bai Qian (三百千，literally Three, Hundred, Thousand), from the first character in the titles. In the past, these books were the almost universal introductory literacy texts for students, almost exclusively boys, from elite families and even for a number of ordinary villagers. A learner who has studied all three books should be able to recognize and pronounce about 2,000 different Chinese characters.

In the past, this classic had served as a child's first formal education at home. Written in concise verses of three characters each,