Three-Character Classic · Hundred Family Surnames

Author: Zhong Lei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-09-01
Features: "The Three Character Classic" is one of the most representative children's enlightenment textbooks in ancient China. It has been widely circulated among the people for a long time due to its concise language, easy-to-understand style, rich content, and memorability. Its scope of influence and impact were unparalleled among ancient primary school reading materials. The author of "The Three Character Classic" is traditionally believed to be Wang Yinglin, a famous scholar of the Southern Song Dynasty. There are also claims that it was written by Qu Shizi in the late Song Dynasty and Li Zhen in the Ming Dynasty. After the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was further supplemented and revised. In the early years of the Republic of China, the master of Confucian classics Zhang Taiyan revised and corrected the original "The Three Character Classic," naming it "The Revised Three Character Classic," which is now the most common version. The entire text of "The Three Character Classic" consists of only over a thousand characters, but it covers a wide range of knowledge, including the importance of learning and education, ethical and moral norms, common knowledge of names and objects, classics, histories, and the stories of ancient scholars' diligence in studying. It still offers enlightenment even when read today. Due to historical limitations, the feudal patriarchal ideas and moral concepts it promotes are far behind the times. These should be discarded when reading.