Illuminating Chinese Classics

As Beijing pluges into winter and temperatures plumet, your hosts for the Three Character Classic (三字经) huddle together in their chilly studio to recount the story of nine-year-old Huang Xiang (黄香), who lay in his father’s bed to warm it up in winter before returning to his own. It’s another one of the tales that's told to Chinese children to drill into them the importance of filial piety. 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.