Illuminating Chinese Classics

In this episode on the Three Character Classic (三字经), we talk about the Great Learning (大学), a wide-ranging text that talks about everything from how to manage your household and family and to the benefits of self-improvement, through to how to run a country and achieve world peace. 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.

The Three Character Classic (三字经) continues to pile on reading for its young readers, this time turning to what are called the six classics (六经), namely the the books of Poetry (诗经), Documents (书经), Changes (易经), Rites (礼记), and the Spring and Autumn Annals (春秋经). In this episode we touch on an underlying assumptions that runs through much of ancient Chinese thought. That is the idea that to be good, you need to be well-read. Being nice isn’t enough – to be a truly good person you need to have an education so you can learn what a good person is and how to become one. 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.

The four core texts (四书) on Confucianism is the topic of our next few episodes on the Three Character Classic (三字经). We get started by talking about how, if you want to become a scholar (为学者), you have to start at the beginning (必有初). After you’ve mastered the basics (小学终) you can move onto studying these four classic texts (至四书). 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.

Before we come to the end of chapter two of the Three Character Classic (三字经), we have a chunky summary of all the lessons we’ve learned about the social ties in our lives. There’s the kindness between father and son (父子恩), harmony between husband and wife (夫妇从), friendship from older brothers (兄则友), respect from younger brothers (弟则恭), the young deferring to the not-so-young (长幼序), ties of friendship (友与朋), a sovereign's esteem for their subjects (君则敬), and a subject’s loyalty for their sovereign (臣则忠). These are the 10 social obligations (此十义) that we all share (人所同). 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.

In this episode on the Three Character Classic (三字经), the book takes a step back to a topic touched upon earlier, namely, how people should approach their relationships with different people in their lives. We’ll talk about the bond between a sovereign and their subjects, and between a father and their child. We’ll also delve into the controversial topic of the nature of the relationship between a husband and wife, and how it has changed from ancient times. 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.

The first of the six classics (六经) that the Three Character Classic (三字经) recommends readers turn to is the Book of Changes (易经), which is actually made up of three books. It presents a method of fortune telling using something called the ‘eight trigrams’, which we explain during the episode. The parts of the book used for predicting the future are, let’s say, limited in their usefulness. But that is useful is the information it contains about China’s early history. 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.

In this episode we give you a brief introduction to the six books that the Three Character Classic (三字经) recommends you tackle when you’re done with the Analects of Confucius (论语者), the works of Mencius (孟子者), the Doctrine of the Mean (中庸), the Great Learning (大学), and the Book of Filial Piety (孝经). In this episode, we talk about the Book of Filial Piety (孝经), and give you some examples of the lessons its author believes are important in order to live a good life. And we discuss some of the differences between how the parent-child relationship is viewed differently in China now compared to back in earlier times. 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.

Your hosts had very different takes on the topic of this episode: the Doctrine of the Mean (中庸). An idea first put forward by the writer Zisi (孔伋), at its most basic it means that people shouldn’t deviate from the middle road in life (中不偏), which is unchanging (庸不易). In other words, don’t live life to extremes. For the first time in this series on the Three Character Classic (三字经), we’ve come across two different versions of a verse. In the alternative text the author’s nickname (孔伋) is replaced with the phrase “from his pen” (子思笔). (If that doesn't make sense, don’t worry, we talk about it in the show.) 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.

We’re continuing our discussion about the four core texts (四书) about Confucianism in this episode on the Three Character Classic (三字经). The works of Mencius (孟子者) covers seven chapters (七篇止). They talk about the road to virtue (讲道德), and the importance of being humane and virtous (说仁义). 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.

In this episode, we introduce what is perhaps the most influential ancient Chinese text: The Analects of Confucius (论语者). In 20 articles (二十篇), it details what the dicsiples of Confucius (群弟子) recorded of his ideas (记善言). 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.

This episode on the Three Character Classic (三字经) is reminiscent of our earliest episodes about study. We talk about the importance of all kids having a good education (凡训蒙) based on careful study of the fundamentals (须讲究). In this case, it means learning how to read ancient texts (详训诂) and understand them despite their lack of punctuation (明句读). In the episode, we tell a story about a scholar visiting his pupil. It might be a bit hard to understand without seeing the two sentences at the heart of the tale, so here they are: 下雨天，留客天？天留，人不留。 And, 下雨天，留客天。天留人不？留。 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.

In this episode on the Three Character Classic (三字经), we talk about the nine generations of relations that make up one’s family, in the traditional definition of the word. There’s a lot of “this person begats that one, who begats etc.” in this episode, so this is one episode where, if your eyes glaze over, your hosts won’t take offense. 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.

“High mountains and running waters” (高山流水) is one of the most iconic pieces of classical Chinese music. Its creator played it so beautifully, it was as if he could create this scenery out of thin air. Alas, his story has a tragic end, but before we get to that, in this episode on the Three Character Classic (三字经) we’ll tell you about the natural materials used to make the eight sounds (八普) of ancient Chinese instruments: gourd (匏), clay (土), leather (革), wood (木), stone (石), metal (金), silk (丝), and bamboo (竹). 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.

In a previous episode, we talked about the importance of the mean (中庸) in Chinese thought, which means in essence to keep things in balance. This is something we touch on again in this episode on the Three Character Classic (三字经) about the seven emotions: happiness (喜) anger (怒), sorrow (哀), fear (惧), love (爱), hatred (恶), and desire (欲). All seven are natural and they can be healthy, but as our story explains, too much of any one of them can cause us problems. 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.

Horses (马), cattle (牛), sheep (羊), fowl (鸡), dogs (犬), and pigs (豕): These are the six domesticated animals, and the topic of this episode on the Three Character Classic (三字经). This verse follows on from our last episode, in which we talked about another group of six – the edible grains (rice 稻, sorghum粱, beans 菽, wheat 麦, glutinous millet 黍, millet 稷). 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.

In this episode on the Three Character Classic (三字经) we cover the six main cereals in traditional Chinese agriculture, and tell the story of a mythical figure called Shennong (神农), “the Divine Farmer”. According to legend, he led a group of followers up a moutain, tasting hundreds of plants to find out what was safe to eat, and which herbs could be used as medicines. The oral history of his discoveries became the Han Dynasty (漢朝) text “Shennong’s Compendium of Medicine” (神农本草经). 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.

A few episodes ago (#14: Servitiude and patriarchy) the Three Character Classic (三字经) took what seemed like a detour from the natural world to discuss the ties between sovereign and subject (君臣义), father and son (父子亲), and husband and wife (夫妇顺). This part of the book appears to take a similar detour with a discussion of benevolence (仁), honor (义), courtesy (礼), wisdom (智), and truth (信). But rather than being detours, they’re included in the chapter on the order of the natural world because there was a belief that natural laws governed relationships and morality. 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.

In Chinese philosophy, water (水), fire (火), wood (木), metal (金), and earth (土) are five elements that make up the properties of everything in the universe. This episode on the Three Character Classic (三字经) tells the story of the discovery of fire in ancient China. In some cultures, fire was a gift from the gods, but in the ancient Chinese story it’s a discovery of man. This is one of the ways that the centrality of man is highlighted in the Chinese view of 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.

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.

After the slight detour in the last episode, our discussion on the Three Character Classic (三字经) returns to the main theme of the second part of the book: the arrangement of the natural world. As temperatures plunge across northern China, your hosts say goodbye to autumn (秋) and hello to winter (冬) as they discuss the neverending cycle of the seasons, and look ahead longingly to the return of spring (春) and summer (夏). And we round out the episode with a friendly disagreement about the teaching methods of Confucius. 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.