The Five Classics refer to the five Confucian classics: the Classic of Poetry, the Book of Documents, the Book of Rites, the I Ching (Book of Changes), and the Spring and Autumn Annals.

The Five Classics is the collective name for five classic works of Confucianism, specifically the Classic of Poetry, the Book of Documents, the Book of Rites, the I Ching (Book of Changes), and the Spring and Autumn Annals. They are often mentioned together with the Four Books - the Analects, the Mencius, the Great Learning, and the Doctrine of the Mean - which is what people commonly call the Four Books and Five Classics, the core texts that ancient scholars were required to study.

In terms of content, each of the Five Classics has its own emphasis. The Classic of Poetry is the earliest collection of poetry in China, divided into three sections: feng (airs), ya (odes), and song (hymns), and it includes many poems reflecting farming activities and folk life; the Book of Documents gathers decrees and proclamations from ancient times and has the nature of a historical document; the Book of Rites mainly records the ritual systems and ceremonial norms of the pre-Qin period; the I Ching expounds the principles of the changes of yin and yang and combines divination with philosophy; and the Spring and Autumn Annals is a chronological history of the State of Lu, concise in wording and focused on the technique of praise and blame.

The orthodox status of the Five Classics was formally established in the Han Dynasty. The imperial court set up the position of Erudite of the Five Classics, and these texts thereby became officially recognized learning; studying the Five Classics was also an important path for scholars to enter official service. Over the more than two thousand years that followed, the Five Classics remained the cornerstone of traditional education, with numerous commentaries and interpretations, gradually forming a vast system of classical studies.

For today's readers, the value of the Five Classics remains prominent. A large number of idioms, allusions, and aphorisms in Chinese come from these five books, and understanding them helps clarify the origins of many everyday expressions. Ordinary readers can treat the Five Classics as a window into traditional Chinese culture, starting with relatively readable chapters and gradually improving their ability to read classical Chinese.