Confucian classics

Confucian classics are texts treated as authoritative sources for Confucian learning, education, and political ethics. Their recognized canon changed over time, most notably from the Five Classics to the Four Books.

Five Classics: A traditional collection of five ancient Chinese texts central to Confucian learning. This early canonical collection established the textual foundation of Confucian scholarship.
Confucius: A Chinese teacher and thinker traditionally dated to the sixth and fifth centuries BCE. Later tradition linked him to the transmission and interpretation of several canonical texts.
Zhu Xi: A Song dynasty Confucian philosopher and scholar who systematized Neo-Confucian learning. He selected and interpreted the Four Books, making them the foundation of later study.
Imperial examination: A system of examinations used in imperial China to select officials, especially through mastery of literary texts. Examinations made command of canonical texts a route into government service.
Old Text Classics: A Han dynasty textual tradition that claimed to preserve classics in an older script and form. Its claims competed with the New Text tradition over the canon's authentic wording and authority.
Four Books: A collection of four Confucian texts selected and interpreted by Zhu Xi for study. These works later became the main curriculum for civil-service examinations.
Warring States period: A period of conflict among Chinese states from the fifth to third centuries BCE. Many texts later treated as classics took shape amid its competing schools and political upheaval.
Dong Zhongshu: A Han dynasty Confucian scholar associated with arguments for aligning imperial rule with Confucian learning. His era saw Confucian scholarship gain a durable place in state institutions.
Civil service of imperial China: The bureaucracy through which officials administered successive Chinese empires. Classical learning supplied its shared educational background and political vocabulary.
New Text Confucianism: A Han scholarly tradition based on versions of classical texts written in the script then in use. Its textual lineage and political interpretations differed from those of Old Text scholars.

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