Si Shu Wu Jing (Four Books and Five Classics)

Si Shu Wu Jing (Four Books and Five Classics)

Si Shu Wu Jing or the Four Books and Five Classics is a collective term for ancient Chinese Confucian classics. Comprising the "Books" series and the "Classics" series, these works contain detailed historical documents covering politics, military affairs, diplomacy and culture as well as ideas of thinkers like Confucius and Mencius, thereby serving as an important guide to Confucian philosophy.

The classics series originally consisted of Six Classics passed down from ancient times. Confucius (c. 551-579 B.C.) and his disciples edited and compiled them. Later, one of the classics, Yue (Records of Music), was lost, so only five now remain. They are: Shijing (Book of Songs), the first anthology of Chinese poetry; Shangshu (Classic of History), a collection of documentary records of events in China's ancient history; Liji (Book of Rites), a record of social norms and rites in ancient times; Yijing (Book of Changes), an explanation of how the ancestors explored the universe and human world through divination; and Chunqiu (the Spring and Autumn Annals), a historical book that offers insightful political wisdom via the official chronicle of the State of Lu back in the Spring and Autumn Period (c. 770-476 B.C.). During the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Wudi (156?-87 B.C.) designated Confucianism as the official guiding principles, so the Five Classics became an important basis for the government to recruit talent, formulate policies, and educate the people.

The Four Books refer to the Analects, the Mencius, the Great Learning, and the Doctrine of the Mean. the Analects and the Mencius mainly record ideas attributed to Confucius and Mencius and stories about them. the Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean were originally two chapters from Liji (Book of Rites), until Zhu Xi (1130-1200), an ancient Chinese thinker of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), extracted them and compiled them into the Four Books together with the Analects and the Mencius. Zhu Xi also compiled annotations and comments for the Four Books based on some excellent works of others. He saw the Four Books as the basics of Confucianism and could serve as the step ladder to study the Five Classics.

The Four Books and the Five Classics were essential readings for the intellectual elite, and the ideas promoted therein constituted the philosophy of government throughout China's ancient period, exerting a profound influence on the development of Chinese society and culture. As an essential component of traditional Chinese culture, this collection occupies an important place in world history and remains an important reference source for understanding traditional Chinese thought and culture.

四書五經

四書五經是中國古代儒家典籍的統稱，包含“四書”和“五經”兩個經典系統，詳細記載了中國古代早期思想文化發展史上政治、軍事、外交、文化等各方面的史實資料以及孔子、孟子等思想家的哲學思想，成為儒家思想的重要載體。

“五經”原本為“六經”，是六種上古時代流傳下來的典籍，孔子（約前551—前479）及弟子等曾對其進行修訂整理，因此成為儒家典籍。后來因《樂》亡佚，成為“五經”，它們分別是：《詩經》，中國最早的詩歌總集；《尚書》，是上古時代歷史文獻的匯總；《禮記》，記載了古代的制度和禮儀規范；《易經》，闡釋了古人通過占卜探究宇宙和人事的方法；《春秋》，通過評價春秋時期以魯國為中心的歷史展現出深邃的政治智慧。西漢時期，漢武帝將儒家思想定為官方統治思想，“五經”成為當時政府選拔人才、制定政策、教化人民的重要依據。

“四書”指《論語》《孟子》《大學》《中庸》四種儒家典籍?！墩撜Z》《孟子》主要記載孔子、孟子的言行思想?！洞髮W》《中庸》原本是《禮記》中的兩篇，被宋代思想家朱熹提出來，與《論語》《孟子》并稱“四書”。朱熹博采眾長， 為《四書》作了集注，他認為“四書”是儒學之根基，“五經”之階梯。

在古代，四書五經是封建統治者治理國家的重要依據，也是每個知識精英的必讀書，因此對中國社會和文化的發展產生了深遠影響。四書五經作為中國傳統文化的重要組成部分，在世界思想史、文化史上具有極高地位，在當代仍然是了解中國傳統思想文化的重要書目。