The Thirteen Confucian Classics: Insights and Observations

By Wang Ronghua and Ross Colquhoun

This book provides some insights and makes some observations on the Thirteen Confucian Classics. These books are comprised of ancient and diverse records, both oral and textual, that form the Confucian canon. A general understanding of the thirteen Confucian Classics in an accessible form will undoubtedly help readers better understand Chinese culture, Chinese history, Chinese thoughts, the Chinese people and China as a whole.

The thirteen Confucian Classics are:

 "The Book of Changes", the first of the thirteen classics that introduced the earliest concepts and symbols the Chinese people used to analyze changes--yin and yang, the eight trigrams and the sixty-four hexagrams, which were initially applied in divination and later formed the basis of Chinese philosophy.

"The Book of Documents" (or "Documents of History)"is the earliest collection of Chinese historical documents and contains much data about political thinking and historic and cultural aspects of Pre-Qín society.

"The Book of Songs"is the earliest collection of Chinese poetry, which dates from the 11th to the 7th Centuries BC.

"The Rites of the Zhou"is a book that recorded the structure of the government, political, economic, cultural and ritual systems in the Pre-Qin period.

"Etiquette and Rites"is a book that recorded rites and etiquette practiced by officials in the Zhou Dynasty.

"The Record of Rites and Ceremonies"is a book of annotations of the above two books of rites and contains much data for the study of history before the Western Han period.

"The Spring and Autumn Annals with commentary by Zuo Qiuming", "The Spring and Autumn Annals with commentary by Gongyang" and "The Spring and Autumn Annals with commentary by Guliang"are three books of annotations of the Spring and Autumn Annals edited by Confucius.

"Analects of Confucius"is a highly influential book containing the thoughts, comments and behavior of Confucius as recorded by his disciples. It has had the most impact on Chinese cultural traditions and Chinese ethical thinking. Some people compare its influence to the Bible in the West.

"The Classic of Filial Duty"elaborated, in simple and plain words, on ways of filial duty, which the ancient Chinese took as the foundation of all virtue. Ancient scholars viewed the book as a reservoir of the Six Confucian Classics, and used it as a primer for children for many generations. The Classic has eighteen chapters and each chapter is summarized and discussed.

The "Erya Dictionary"is the earliest surviving book of its kind in China that dates from at least the 3rd Century BC with parts of it compiled as early as the 6th century BC. The Eryǎ is China's first comprehensive dictionary compiled according to semantic groups. The chapter describes the structure and rationale for the compiling of the dictionary, it briefly talks about the history and then takes words from each section to illustrate the nature of the book.

 "The Book of Mencius"defended and developed Confucian thoughts on Heaven and destiny, man's innate good nature, ethics, values, the role of morality and ideals and the self-cultivation of morality and the idea that people are the foundation of stable government based on benevolent governance. The book was accepted among the list of Confucian classics in the Song Dynasty.

• Language: English
• Publisher: New Classic Press
• Release date: Dec 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9781915076007

Book preview

Contents

Forward  III

Chapter 1: The Book of Changes  1

Chapter 2: Documents of History  17

Chapter 3: The Book of Songs  20

Chapter 4: The Rites of the Zhou  41

Chapter 5: Etiquette and Rites  47

Chapter 6: The Record of Rites and Ceremonies  53

Chapter 7: The Spring and Autumn Annals with Commentary by Zuo Qiuming  65

Chapter 8: The Spring and Autumn Annals with Commentary by Gongyang Gao  71

Chapter 9: The Spring and Autumn Annals with Commentary by Guliang Chi  80

Chapter 10: Analects of Confucius  88

Chapter 11: The Classic of Filial Duty  108

Chapter 12: The Erya Dictionary  114

Chapter 13: The Book of Mencius  123

Forward

This is a book aims to provide a some insights and make some observations on the thirteen Confucian classics. These books are comprised of ancient and diverse records, both oral and textual that form the Confucian canon. A general understanding of the thirteen Confucian classics in an accessible form will undoubtably help readers better understand Chinese culture, Chinese history, Chinese thoughts, the Chinese people and China as a whole.

The thirteen Confucian Classics are The Book of Changes, The Book of Documents (or Documents of History), The Book of Songs, The Rites of the Zhou, Etiquette and Rites, The Record of Rites and Ceremonies, The Spring and Autumn Annals with commentary by Zuo Qiuming, The Spring and Autumn Annals with commentary by Gongyang, The Spring and Autumn Annals with commentary by Guliang, Analects of Confucius, The Classic of Filial Duty, Erya Dictionary and The Book of Mencius.

I should mention at the outset that before the Han Dynasty, Confucian thought was not the main philosophical influence. As a matter of historical fact, most rulers during a period of almost 500 years before Confucius were guided by numerous famous philosphers and the Yi Jing (Book of Changes) during an period of intellectual fervour. As far back as 1,250BC China pathed the way in terms of humanistic, non-theosophical philosophy. While the earliest books emanated from the Zhou dynasty as evidence by the ‘Bone oracles’ of Anyang it is reputed that Confucius edited and wrote numerous commentaries to the Book of Changes and the other Classics. In this sense Confucius was the first man to develop a system of beliefs based on personal morality and governance. Thanks to the decision of Emperor Wu of Han who introduced the policy of Respecting the Confucian School only, twelve Confucian classics were included as must read books in the official curriculum of royal schools and became the most important content in the national examinations for purpose of enlisting civil servants. It was not until the Southern Song Dynasty that The Book of Mencius was officially added to the list. Since then the idedas of Confucius have formed the basis of the Chinese civilization. (Hart, 1990)

Although Confucianism has been interpreted in many ways in different periods of Chinese history, most notably it has gone through two major phases since the period of the Southern Song to the present: Neo-Confucianism from the Southern Song to the end of the Qing Dynasty and modern Neo-Confucianism (New Confucianism) from the early 20th century to now. In both phases the thirteen Confucian Classics remained the foundation of the different schools and the main subject of study. For example, take Ma Yifu (1883-1967), a representative of the modern Neo-Confucianism and a master of China studies. It was said he could recite from memory each of the thirteen classics, and he might be the only one who had read every word of the Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature (四库全书)，which was 36,000 volumes and eight hundred million Chinese characters. Ma gave lists of books his students must read at the School of Restoration (he established in 1939 lasting for two years). His students were in two categories：the intensive researchers of Confucianism and the extensive researchers of Confucianism. Both would have to delve into 3 titles on The Classic of Filial Duty, 11 titles on The Books of Songs, 10 titles on Documents of History, 15 titles on the three Rites, 5 titles on The Book of Music (the original was lost but there were studies on the book at the time), 19 titles on The Book of Changes, 11 titles on Spring and Autumn Annals and commentaries, 11 titles on the Erya Dictionary and 35 titles in the Confucian School as a whole.

When answering questions as to why should the Chinese attach importance to the Confucian Classics and why the Chinese seek and follow the thoughts contained in these classics, Wang Ronghua in his annotations to his book The Three Character a Line Chant said: The Book of Songs is the first anthology of songs and poems in China; The Documents of History is China’s first collection of historic documentation; The Book of Changes is the first canon in China; The Rites of the Zhou is the first book explaining government organization, decrees and systems; The Record of Rites and Ceremonies is China’s first collection of cultural data; The Spring and Autumn Annals is China’s first historical chronicle  It is held that all kinds of writings originated from the above mentioned six classics. The decree type originates from The Documents of History; narrative type from The Book of Changes; the eulogy type from The Book of Songs; the condolence type from The Record of Rites and Ceremonies and the admonition type from The Spring and Autumn Annals. Chen Yinke (陈寅恪，1890-1969), the most famous master of China Studies, made these remarks on these classics: The Book of Songs and The Document of History embody the wisdom of our ancestors, and should be read by everybody regardless of personal inclination...The Rites of the Zhou is the one that most comprehensively recorded ancient legal acts and codes. Thus the book must be read no matter if it is authentic or false (some say this book is a fake). Another master of China Studies Wang Guowei (王国维，1877-1927) said, The Book of Songs can teach people to be gentle and honest; the Documents of History enable people to know of things that happened long before; The Book of Music (which was originally one of the Six Classics and was lost and then replaced by The Rites of the Zhou) would make people broad minded and kind hearted; The Book of Changes can make people calm and gentle; The Record of Rites and Ceremonies can guide people to be respectful and dignified, and everyone should study the Spring and Autumn Annals if they want to analyze or compare historical events. (quoted from The Pandect of The Conspectuses of Classics)

With the revival of traditional Chinese culture, the thirteen Confucian Classics have come back into the lives of the Chinese people, as they were officially banned in 1912 from every level of school by the Nationalist government. The International Confucian Association, founded in 1994 with members from the Republic of Korea, Japan, the United States, Germany, Singapore, Vietnam and other countries besides China, not only carried out academic studies and research, but also tried very hard to popularize Confucian thought in China and world-wide. There are several societies for the study of The Book of Changes,  as well as The Book of Songs. There have been seminars on all the thirteen classics almost every year, both domestic and international. The Erya Dictionary seems to be the least read among the thirteen, yet one can easily find on websites studies of the classic from the perspective of exegetics, philology and phonology.

While Chinese metaphysics identifies with the laws of nature manifest in the notion of Heaven (tian, 天) and is non-theological, it might be interesting to note that the legal content in the three classics on rites, which specified quite a number of behavioral norms, are quite similar to The Five Scriptures of Moses, which laid down the Ten Commandments; while The Spring and Autumn Annals described the history of the states of the time, Joshua and Esther also described the history of the Jewish nation; The Book of Songs is the earliest collection of Chinese poetry, in the Old Testament there are also collections of poetry, for instance the Tehillim, Song of Songs; Analects of Confucius, which recorded the sayings and actions of Confucius, might be compared to the Four Gospels in the New Testament; the sayings and deeds of some ancient saints, like Yao, Shun, Yu, the Duke of Zhou among others can be found in the thirteen classics; similarly the sayings and deeds of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel can be found in Isaiah and the Book of Malachi. We can find the concept of love, sympathy, forgiveness, the deity and man are at one and other thoughts in both the Bible and the Thirteen Confucian Classics. However, the Bible is far more popular worldwide and, in this regard the thirteen classics are far behind.

So, as far as we know the following among the thirteen classics have not been translated into English: The Rites of the Zhou, Etiquette and Rites, Spring and Autumn Annals with Commentary by Gongyang, Spring and Autumn Annals with Commentary by Guliang and the Erya Dictionary. But, we might be mistaken, however you can find English editions for the other eight classics.

Each piece of writing has been uploaded onto the website: www.readchina8.com. This book now brings them together with additions, revisions and corrections.

This book intends to provide a very general picture of each of the thirteen classics and in doing so provide some insights into the profound impact they have had on contemporary Chinese culture and society. Just as the Bible has had a farreaching influence on Western culture, art, history, thought and society, so too, but perhaps more influential today, do the writings of Confucius have on Chinese society. To adequately understand the Chinese people and their motivations and thinking it is essential to understand Confucian philosophy. We sincerely hope more people outside the Chinese speaking communities can read this book, for the history, thoughts and culture they contain should be shared by all. Indigenous as the they are, they are part of the world culture. We hope that this new book will not only provide a convenient way of learning about the thoughts contained in the Thirteen Classics, but in doing so readers will gain some insights into the philosophy that guides the nation and therefore enhance an understanding of China and enhance international relationships.

This book comprises 13 chapters which correspond to the 13 classics that are the subjects of the book. The first chapter introduces the Book of Changes. According to tradition the earliest portion was developed by Fu Xi, and was a book of divination that would later become influential in Chinese cosmology. The chapter is divided into the six sections. The first section describes the three stages of the develop of the system of divination: yin and yang, the eight trigrams and 64 hexagrams, which are formed from the possible combinations of the trigrams. An explanation of the meaning of each is given. The second section deals with the Ten Wings, which are ten pieces of explanatory writings or commentaries to the The Book of Changes. The third section tackles the vexed question as to who wrote the Book of Changes as much it was formulated when writing was rudimentary and impermanent and most knowledge was passed down orally. Section four discusses the naming of the book and the next section details the nature of the book as a one of Chinese moral philosophy. The last section briefly discusses some studies of the Book of Changes and lists some well-known English translations.

Chapter 2 Documents of History, is the earliest collection of Chinese historic documents and contains much data about political thinking and historic and cultural aspects of Pre-Qín society. The chapter is divided into four sections discussing the title of the book, the sources, the different versions and studies of it.

Chapter 3 provides an understanding of the Book of Songs, which dates from the 11th to the 7th Centuries BC, and is the oldest existing collection Chinese poetry comprising 305 poems or songs. During the Han Dynasty was formally listed as one of the Five Classics that should be taught at schools. It is a delightful read as it contains translations of some of the poems or songs from each part: Feng, Ya (Greater and Minor) and Song. The poems that were often sung and accompanied by music and dance gives a marvelous insight into the lives and society of the ancient Chinese. The chapter finishes by discussing some interesting features of the Book.

The Rites of the Zhōu is the subject of Chapter 4 and is one of the thirteen classics of the Confucian school, and it is one of the three Rites: the other two are Etiquette and Rites and Record of Rites..The content of the Rites of the Zhōu is very rich: it ranges from geology, astronomy, channel digging, grass, wood, worm and fish to government systems, culture, education, rites, music, armed forces, criminal law, taxation, expenditure, food, clothes, ancestral temples, horses, carts, farming, commerce, medicine and divination, among others.

Chapter 5 continues this theme with insights into Etiquette and Rites, which is an important classic that records the ritual activities of the Chinese nation in the ancient times. All rituals and etiquette behaviors featured in the book were practiced in the Zhōu Dynasty.

The Record of Rites and Ceremonies, featured in Chapter 6,