General Introduction to the Scriptures - Selected Works of Famous Scholars in Chinese Studies

Author: Zhou Yutong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: Chinese Confucian classics, in terms of time, it has a history of over 2,100 years since the early Western Han Dynasty; in terms of volume, according to the General Catalogue of the Siku Quanshu, there are 1,773 works and 20,042 volumes in the Confucian classics section. However, what is the definition of a classic? This remains a debated issue to this day. To understand the definition of a classic, one must first understand the schools of Confucian studies. The schools of Confucian studies will be discussed separately in a later section, but for now, it is sufficient to know that they can be broadly divided into four schools: 1. "Western Han Dynasty's Confucian classics school" (hereinafter referred to as the "Classical Texts school"); 2. "Eastern Han Dynasty's Confucian classics school" (hereinafter referred to as the "Ancient Texts school"); 3. "Song Dynasty school"; 4. "New Historiography school." Regarding the definition of classics, the "Song Dynasty school" and the "New Historiography school" pay little attention, but the "Western Han Dynasty's Confucian classics school" (Classical Texts school) has its own views and engages in intense debate. The Classical Texts school believes that classics are a specific term for the works of Confucius. There should be no classics before Confucius, and no works after Confucius should be called classics. They argue that the distinctions between classics, commentaries, records, and interpretations lie in the identity of the authors. That is, what Confucius wrote is called classics, what his disciples recorded is called commentaries or records, and what later disciples passed down orally is called interpretations.