Personal Library -- Three Character Classic, Hundred Family Surnames, Thousand Character Classic

Author: Chen Qiao et al.
Publisher:
Publishing Date: July 1, 2004
Features: In traditional Chinese learning materials, the Three Character Classic, the Hundred Family Surnames, and the Thousand Character Classic are the most widely circulated early childhood education texts for thousands of years, commonly known as the "Three, Hundred, Thousand." It is said that "reading the Three Character Classic to broaden knowledge; reciting the Hundred Family Surnames for daily use; understanding the Thousand Character Classic to grasp principles." The Three Character Classic is a "" (a) – a timeless masterpiece! It is to have been written by Wang Yinglin, a scholar from the Southern Song Dynasty, and became household names after the Song Dynasty. It contains extensive content: "It first lists historical events, followed by classics, histories, and the works of various scholars, observing their distinct categorization without mixing. Although some characters are repeated, it lacks literary embellishment, yet its ability to enlighten knowledge surpasses it." It not only teaches and learns but also discusses etiquette norms, names of things, history, and anecdotes of diligent pursuit of knowledge. The Hundred Family Surnames was written and popularized earlier than the Three Character Classic. According to Wang Mingqing of the Song Dynasty: "The Hundred Family Surnames printed in the marketplaces were examined by Wang Mingqing, who believed they were written by commoners during the time when the Qian family ruled Zhejiang. Why? Because it begins with 'Zhao, Qian, Sun, Li.' Qian was a ruling family that followed the proper calendar, and Zhao was the imperial surname of our dynasty, so Qian is placed second." The entire book compiles 438 surnames into four-character rhyming verses, making it easy to recite and memorize, enjoyed by both the refined and the common. The Thousand Character Classic was compiled by Zhou Xingsi during the reign of Emperor Wu of Liang. It is that Emperor Wu ordered the selection of 1,000 characters from Wang Xizhi's calligraphy and tasked Zhou Xingsi with compiling them into a text. Zhou completed the rhyming verses overnight, but by then, his hair had turned white. The Thousand Character Classic has no repeated characters, not only featuring elegant parallelism and logical coherence but also outstanding literary talent, earning admiration for its brilliance. It is called the "Letter from a Scholar" and has been passed down for millennia without fading.