Chinese classic texts or canonical texts () or simply dianji (典籍) refers to the Chinese texts which originated before the imperial unification by the Qin dynasty in 221 BC, particularly the "Four Books and Five Classics" of the Neo-Confucian tradition, themselves a customary abridgment of the "Thirteen Classics".
All of these pre-Qin texts were written in classical Chinese.
All three canons are collectively known as the classics (t , s , jīng, lit. "warp").
The term Chinese classic texts may be broadly used in reference to texts which were written in vernacular Chinese or it may be narrowly used in reference to texts which were written in the classical Chinese which was current until the fall of the last imperial dynasty, the Qing, in 1912.
These texts can include shi (, historical works), zi (, philosophical works belonging to schools of thought other than the Confucian but also including works on agriculture, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, divination, art criticism, and other miscellaneous writings) and ji (, literary works) as well as jing (Chinese medicine).
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Four Books and Five Classics were the subjects of mandatory study by those Confucian scholars who wished to take the imperial exams and needed to pass them in order to become government officials.
Any political discussion was full of references to this background, and one could not be one of the literati (or, in some periods, even a military officer) without having memorized them.
Generally, children first memorized the Chinese characters of the "Three Character Classic" and the "Hundred Family Surnames" and they then went on to memorize the other classics.
The literate elite therefore shared a common culture and set of values.
Scholarship on these texts is divided into two periods, before and after the burning of the books during the fall of the Qin dynasty, when many of the original pre-Qin texts were lost.
Before 221 BC
It is often difficult or impossible to precisely date pre-Qin works beyond their being "pre-Qin", a period of 1000 years.
Information in ancient China was often orally passed down for generations before it was written down, so the order of the composition of the texts may not be in the same order as that which was arranged by their attributed "authors".Cambridge History of Ancient China chapter 11
The below list is therefore organized in the order which is found in the Siku Quanshu, the imperial library of the Qing dynasty.
The Siku classifies all works into 4 top-level branches: the Confucian Classics and their secondary literature; history; philosophy; and poetry.
There are sub-categories within each branch, but due to the small number of pre-Qin works in the Classics, History and Poetry branches, the sub-categories are only reproduced for the Philosophy branch.
Classics branch
History branch
Philosophy branch
Poetry
The Thirteen Classics
The most important pre-Qin works that later became the official curriculum of the imperial examination system from the Song dynasty onward are the Thirteen Classics.
This is a slightly different organization of the works of the Classics branch.
In total, these works total to more than 600,000 characters that must be memorized in order to pass the examination.
Moreover, these works are accompanied by extensive commentary and annotation, containing approximately 300 million characters by some estimates.
Classic of Changes or I Ching (易經 Yìjīng)
Book of Documents (書經 Shūjīng)
Classic of Poetry (詩經 Shījīng)
The Three Ritual Classics (三禮 Sānlǐ)
Rites of Zhou (周禮 Zhōulǐ)
Ceremonies and Rites (儀禮 Yílǐ)
Book of Rites (禮記 Lǐjì)
"Great Learning" chapter (大學 "Dà Xué")
"Doctrine of the Mean" chapter (中庸 "Zhōng Yōng")
The Three Commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals
The Commentary of Zuo (左傳 Zuǒzhuàn)
The Commentary of Gongyang (公羊傳 Gōngyáng Zhuàn)
The Commentary of Guliang (穀梁傳 Gǔliáng Zhuàn)
The Analects (論語 Lúnyǔ)
Classic of Filial Piety (孝經 Xiàojīng)
Erya (爾雅 Ěryǎ)
Mencius (孟子 Mèngzǐ)
After 206 BC
The Twenty-Four Histories, a collection of authoritative histories of China for various dynasties:
The Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian
The Book of Han by Ban Gu.
The Book of Later Han by Fan Ye
The Records of Three Kingdoms by Chen Shou
The Book of Jin by Fang Xuanling
The Book of Song by Shen Yue
The Book of Southern Qi by Xiao Zixian
The Book of Liang by Yao Silian
The Book of Chen by Yao Silian
The History of the Southern Dynasties by Li Yanshou
The Book of Wei by Wei Shou
The Book of Zhou by Linghu Defen
The Book of Northern Qi by Li Baiyao
The History of the Northern Dynasties by Li Yanshou
The Book of Sui by Wei Zheng
The Old Book of Tang by Liu Xu
The New Book of Tang by Ouyang Xiu
The Old History of Five Dynasties by Xue Juzheng
The New History of Five Dynasties by Ouyang Xiu
The History of Song by Toqto'a
The History of Liao by Toqto'a
The History of Jin by Toqto'a
The History of Yuan by Song Lian
The History of Ming by Zhang Tingyu
The Draft History of Qing by Zhao Erxun is usually referred as the 25th classic of history records
The New History of Yuan by Ke Shaomin is sometimes referred as the 26th classic of history records
The Chronicles of Huayang, an old record of ancient history and tales of southwestern China, attributed to Chang Qu.
The Biographies of Exemplary Women, a biographical collection of exemplary women in ancient China, compiled by Liu Xiang.
The Spring and Autumn Annals of the Sixteen Kingdoms, a historical record of the Sixteen Kingdoms, attributed to Cui Hong, is lost.
The Shiming, is a dictionary compiled by Liu Xi by the end of 2nd century.
A New Account of the Tales of the World, a collection of historical anecdotes and character sketches of some 600 literati, musicians, and painters.
The Thirty-Six Strategies, a military strategy book attributed to Tan Daoji.
The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons (Wen Xin Diao Long), a review book on ancient Chinese literature and writings by Liu Xie.
The Commentary on the Water Classic, a book on hydrology of rivers in China attributed to the great geographer Li Daoyuan.
The Dialogues between Li Jing and Tang Taizong, a military strategy book attributed to Li Jing
The Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government (Zizhi Tongjian), with Sima Guang as its main editor.
The Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue, a historical record of the states of Wu and Yue during the Spring and Autumn period, attributed to Zhao Ye.
The Zhenguan Zhengyao, a record of governance strategies and leadership of Emperor Taizong of Tang, attributed to Wu Jing.
The Jiaoshi Yilin, a work modelled after the I Ching, composed during the Western Han Dynasty and attributed to Jiao Yanshou.
The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, a mathematics Chinese book composed by several generations scholars of Han Dynasty.
The Thousand Character Classic, attributed to Zhou Xingsi.
The Treatise on Astrology of the Kaiyuan Era, compiled by Gautama Siddha, is a Chinese encyclopedia on astrology and divination.
The Shitong, written by Liu Zhiji, a work on historiography.
The Tongdian, written by Du You, a contemporary text focused on the Tang dynasty.
The Tang Huiyao, compiled by Wang Pu, a text based on the institutional history of the Tang dynasty.
The Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, compiled by Bianji; a recount of Xuanzang's journey.
The Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang, written by Duan Chengshi, records fantastic stories, anecdotes, and exotic customs.
The Four Great Books of Song, a term referring to the four large compilations during the beginning of Song dynasty:
The Taiping Yulan, a leishu encyclopedia.
The Taiping Guangji , a collection of folk tales and theology.
The Wenyuan Yinghua, an anthology of poetry, odes, songs and other writings.
The Cefu Yuangui, a leishu encyclopedia of political essays, autobiographies, memorials and decrees.
The Dream Pool Essay, a collection of essays on science, technology, military strategies, history, politics, music and arts, written by Shen Kuo.
The Exploitation of the Works of Nature, an encyclopedia compiled by Song Yingxing.
The Compendium of Materia Medica, a classic book of medicine written by Li Shizhen.
The Siku Quanshu, the largest compilation of literature in Chinese history.
The New Songs from the Jade Terrace, a poetry collection from the Six Dynasties period.
The Quan Tangshi, or Collected Tang Poems, compiled during the Qing dynasty, published AD 1705.
The Xiaolin Guangji, a collection of jokes compiled during the Qing dynasty.
See also
Chinese literature
Imperial examination
List of early Chinese texts
Kaicheng Stone Classics
Seven Military Classics
Old Texts
Sinology
Thomas Francis Wade
Herbert Giles
Lionel Giles
Frederic H. Balfour
References
Further reading
Yong, Rong (2016).
Siku Quanshu Jianming Mulu 四庫全書簡明目錄.
Shanghai Kexue Jishu Wenxian Chubanshe.
Endymion Wilkinson.
Chinese History: A New Manual.
(Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Asia Center, Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series.
New Edition; Second, Revised printing March 2013).  .
See esp.
pp.
365– 377, Ch.
28, "The Confucian Classics."
External links
Chinese Text Project (English Chinese) (Chinese philosophy texts in classical Chinese with English and modern Chinese translations)
Chinese Classics (James Legge's translations of the Analects of Confucius, the Great Learning, the Doctrine of the Mean, the Works of Mencius and the Tao Te Ching)
The Canonical Books of Confucianism, David K. Jordan
Relevant Electronic Resources for Chinese Classical Studies
Traditional Chinese
Scripta Sinica Big classic texts database by Academia Sinica
Palace Museum Chinese Text Database
中國電子古籍世界 Classics database
Research Center for Chinese Ancient Texts includes CHANT (CHinese ANcient Texts) Database
Chinese classic text online
Simplified Chinese
凌云小筑 In Chinese, with articles and discussions on literature, history, and philosophy.
国学导航
Japanese
東方學デジタル圖書館
