Illuminating Chinese Classics

In this episode on the Three Character Classic (三字经), we continue exploring the traits of the natural world by taking a look at the four cardinal directions (四方): north (北), south (南), east (东), and west (西). We also talk about the importance of the center (中), and the fundamental role it plays in shaping how Chinese people see the world. The三字经 was written by the Song Dynasty (宋朝) scholar Wang Yinglin (王应麟). This 1,134 character text was one of the first textbooks used by students, and provided lessons on education, morality and ethics, science, literature, and history.