The Four Books and the Five Classics

• The Four Books and Five Classics is one of the greatest collection of literary Works of Ancient China.
• It was written before 300 BCE and forms the basis and describes the main beliefs of Confucianism.

The Four Books:

• 1. The Great Learning.
  2. The Doctrine of the Mean.
  3. Confucian Analects.
  4. The Works of Mencius.

The Five Classics:

• 1. The Book of Poetry:
     • 305 Poems dating between c. 1000-476 BCE.
  2. The Book of History:
     • A collection of speeches by Rulers and Officials of the early Zhou period, possibly dating from the sixth century BCE.
  3. The Book of Rites.
  4. The Book of Changes, the I Ching:
     • This Book acts like an Oracle to be consulted. It contains 64 Hexagrams which produce answers to the questions posed.
  5. The Spring and Autumn Annals.
  6. (The Sixth Classic is a Lost Work and was a Book of Music.)