What Are the Four Books and Five Classics? An Introduction to the Core Confucian Classics

The Four Books and Five Classics is the collective name for the Confucian classics, and they were also required reading for scholars in ancient China. The Four Books refer to the four works The Great Learning, The Doctrine of the Mean, The Analects, and Mencius; the Five Classics refer to the five texts The Classic of Poetry, The Book of Documents, The Book of Rites, The I Ching (Book of Changes), and The Spring and Autumn Annals. Together, the two groups formed the core content of traditional scholarship and education.

The formation of the Four Books came relatively late. The Analects records the words and deeds of Confucius and his disciples; Mencius gathers Mencius's speeches persuading the feudal lords and expounding the idea of benevolent governance; The Great Learning and The Doctrine of the Mean were originally two chapters of The Book of Rites and were later extracted separately. After the Southern Song dynasty, these four works were compiled together and became the first choice for scholars beginning their study of Confucianism, as well as an important basis for the imperial examinations thereafter.

The Five Classics have a longer history, most of them having taken shape in the pre-Qin period. The Classic of Poetry is the earliest general collection of poetry in our country; The Book of Documents collects proclamations and speeches from high antiquity; The Book of Rites records ancient ritual systems and norms of conduct; The I Ching discusses divination and change and also contains philosophy; and The Spring and Autumn Annals is a chronological history. The Five Classics cover literature, history, ritual, philosophy and many other aspects, and are an important window for understanding ancient culture.

For people today, the Four Books and Five Classics are not just ancient texts, but a key to understanding traditional culture. Many idioms, proverbs and principles of dealing with people and the world come from these books, such as cultivating oneself and managing the family well, and not doing to others what you would not want done to yourself. For readers who want to get started, it is generally recommended to read The Analects first, as its language is relatively plain, and then gradually expand to the other classics; reading with annotations and translations will make it easier.