The Analects of Confucius is a collection of recorded essays in China's Spring and Autumn Period, which was compiled by Confucius' disciples and re-disciples. It mainly records the words and deeds of Confucius and his disciples and reflects Confucius' thoughts more intensively. It is one of the classic works of Confucianism.
The book, with 20 articles and 492 chapters, is the first "bibliography". One of China's ancient works, which is now circulated and studied. Mainly by Zhong Gong, Zi You, three people first discussed the drafting, and completed it together with several disciples who stayed in Lu to commemorate the teacher and worry about the loss of the teacher's way.
And sentence reading was initiated by Xia Zi. Therefore, Confucianism in China said: The invention of chapters and sentences began in the summer. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu, Mencius, the University and the Doctrine of the Mean were called "Four Books". ?
2. The golden mean
The Doctrine of the Mean is one of the Confucian classics. Originally, it was Chapter 31 of The Book of Rites for Little Dai, and the author generally thought it was written by Zi Si and many of his disciples. Some scholars think it may have been written by Confucian scholars during the Warring States period.
Scholars in the Song Dynasty respected the golden mean and extracted it from The Book of Rites to write a book independently, while Zhu was co-edited with The Analects of Confucius, Mencius and Daxue into four books.
The literal interpretation of the doctrine of the mean is "the doctrine of the mean and common sense". However, it requires "neutralization". A person's calm mood when he doesn't show emotion is "moderate", and it is "harmony" to adjust to common sense after showing emotion.
Its main purpose is to cultivate human nature. Among them, the ways of communication and learning (erudition, interrogation, deliberation, discernment and perseverance) and the norms of being a man are "five ways" (monarch, minister, father and son, couple, brother and friend) and "three fathers" (wisdom, benevolence and courage).
3. Historical records
Historical Records is a biographical history book written by Sima Qian, a historian of the Western Han Dynasty. It is the first biographical general history in the history of China, which records the history of four years and more than 3,000 years from the legendary Huangdi era to the early years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
In the first year of Taichu (BC 104), Sima Qian began to create Taishi Gongshu, later called Shiji. It took 14 years before and after its completion. The book Historical Records includes twelve biographies (records of emperors' political achievements in past dynasties).
"Thirty Aristocratic Families" (the rise and fall of vassal states, princes of the Han Dynasty, and distinguished people), 70 biographies (the words and deeds of important people, mainly describing the characters and ministers, and the last one as the preface), and ten tables (chronology of major events).
Eight books (about ceremony, music, rhythm, calendar, astronomy, meditation, water conservancy and finance), a total of 130, with more than 526,500 words. Historical Records is listed as the first of the "Twenty-four History".
Together with the History of the Later Han Dynasty, the History of the Later Han Dynasty and the History of the Three Kingdoms, they are called "the first four histories" [8], which has had a far-reaching impact on the development of later historiography and literature. His original biographical method of compiling history was passed down by the "official history" of later generations.
Historical Records is also an excellent literary work, which occupies an important position in the history of China literature. It is praised by Lu Xun as "a historian's swan song, and Li Sao has no rhyme", which has high literary value.
4. Sun Tzu's Art of War
Sun Tzu's Art of War, also known as Sun Wu's Art of War, Sun Tzu's Art of War and Sun Wu's Art of War, is the earliest existing military work in China and the earliest military work in the world, which is about 2300 years earlier than clausewitz's On War.
Known as the "sacred book of military science." There are about 6,000 words and 13 articles. The author is Sun Wu, whose ancestral home is Le 'an, Qi in the Spring and Autumn Period, and a general of Wu. Sun Tzu's Art of War is a brilliant treasure in China's ancient military cultural heritage.
As an important part of excellent traditional culture, its content is profound, its thought is profound and its logic is rigorous, which is the concentrated embodiment of the essence of ancient military thought. Sun Tzu's Art of War is regarded as a classic of military strategists.
It has a history of 2500 years since its birth, and it has been studied in all dynasties. Li Shimin said, "Look at the art of war, there is no Sun Wu". Sun Tzu's art of war is a strategy, and strategy is not a trick, but a great strategy and great wisdom.
Today, Sun Tzu's art of war has gone global. It has also been translated into many languages and occupies an important position in the world military history. 1972 bamboo slips of Sun Tzu's Art of War unearthed in Linyi.
5. Shan Hai Jing
Shan Hai Jing is an ancient book by China, which records the strange stories in ancient times. Generally, it was written by Chu or Bashu people from the middle and late Warring States to the early Hanzhong. It is also a fantastic book. The author of this book is unknown.
The ancients believed that the book was "made by curious people during the Warring States Period and the Miscellaneous Notes of Zhuang Lie Li Sao Zhou Shu Jincheng". Modern scholars also believe that writing a book is not an instant, and the author is not a person.
There are 18 articles in Shan Hai Jing, and other chapters have long been lost. Originally, there were 22 articles with about 32,650 words. There are 5 Tibetan classics, 4 overseas classics, 5 domestic classics and 4 wild classics. There are 13 chapters in Hanshu, not counting the later wild classics and family classics.
The contents of Shan Hai Jing are mainly geographical knowledge in folklore, including mountains and rivers, Taoism, nationalities, products, medicines, sacrifices and witch doctors. It has preserved many famous ancient myths and legends, including Kuafu's daily life, the goddess mending the sky, Jingwei's reclamation and Dayu's flood control.
Shan Hai Jing has extraordinary literature value, which can be used as a reference for studying China's ancient history, geography, culture, Chinese and foreign transportation, folk customs and myths, among which the mineral records are the earliest related documents in the world.