Four Books of Confucian sayings in ancient China

Author: Edited by Hou Yangjun et al. (Commentary)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-02-22
Features: The Four Books of Ancient Chinese Confucian Sayings, including The Analects of Confucius, The Record of the Way and Its Power, The Record of Learning, and The Record of Inquiry. The saying-style is a common literary form used by Confucian masters to teach, and its strength lies in being concise yet profound, easy to understand yet insightful. There are many works in the saying-style within Confucianism, and here we have selected only representative works that reflect the development stages of Confucianism and its major schools. Confucius is the founder of Confucianism, and The Analects of Confucius is the primary embodiment of his teachings, hence it was chosen as the core. Zhu Xi was the synthesizer of Neo-Confucianism, and his philosophical works, such as The Collected Sayings of Chu Hsi and The Record of the Way and Its Power, are also in the saying-style.