Confucius’s Creative Transformation and Development of the Six Classics: Based on the Relationship between Classics and Histories?

Ren Milin

Abstract: The nucleus of developing the excellent aspects of traditional Chinese culture in a creative way is dealing with the relationship between inheritance and development.When it comes to ancient Chinese culture, this was expressed as the relationship between constancy and change, as epitomized by the relationship between classics and histories.In the evolution of the relationship between classics and histories, Confucius made a remarkable contribution to the creative transformation and development of the Six Classics,a contribution that had two aspects.On the one hand, Confucius made the Six Classics vital again through systematic reinterpretation; while on the other hand, he popularized these classics among the ordinary people by means of education, so that such literature exerted a deep and extensive infl uence on the society.

Keywords: relationship between classics and histories, Confucius, Six Classics, creative transformation and development of Chinese culture

The Origin of Classics and Histories [Refer to page 14 for Chinese.Similarly hereinafter]

According to extant literature, the characterjing經(jīng) (classics) appeared fi rst in inscriptions on ancient bronze vessels attributed to the Western Zhou dynasty (1046—771 BCE).It was originally written asjing巠.Guo Moruo 郭沫若 (1949—1978), one of the most prominent Chinese Marxist historians, interpreted the character 巠 with textual research:

One piece of inscription on the Da Yu Bronze Tripod reads: “Be respectful and harmonious and abide by moral codes” (敬雝德巠).Another piece of inscription on Duke Mao’s BronzeTripod reads: “[I] strictly follow the commands of the sovereigns of former times” (肇巠先王命).In both these two cases, 巠, which meant “abide by codes” and “follow commands”respectively, was used for 經(jīng).Thus, I conclude that 巠 was the original form of 經(jīng).1Guo Moruo 郭沫若, A Comprehensive Textual Criticism of Inscriptions on Bronze Vessels [金文叢考] (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1954), 182.

“Radical ofXi” [糸部] inExpounding Graphs and Interpreting Characters[說文解字], the earliest extant Chinese dictionary, says, “The characterjing經(jīng) means the vertical thread on a loom.Its radical isxi糸 (to tie) and its pronunciation followsjing巠.” Duan Yucai 段玉裁(1735—1815), a Qing philologist, interpreted: “The vertical threads on a loom are called 經(jīng),which must precede thewei緯 (horizontal threads) on a loom.Therefore, the three cardinal ethical principles (sangang三綱), fi ve constancies (wuchang五常), and the Six Arts (liuyi六藝) are venerated asjingthat are as constant as Heaven and Earth.”2Xu Shen 許慎, Expounding Graphs and Interpreting Characters with Commentary [說文解字注], ed.Duan Yucai 段玉裁(Hangzhou: Zhejiang Ancient Books Publishing House, 2006), 644.It is obvious that the original meaning ofjinghad been extended.For what reason was the meaning ofjing, the vertical threads on a loom, used to refer to something constant? “Explanations of Classics and Arts” [釋典藝] inA Comprehensive Dictionary of Terminologies[釋名] authored by Liu Xi 劉熙 (b.ca.160), an Eastern Han scholar, explained, “Jingis a path.It refers to the most frequently-used classics.These classics are like paths which can connect to all places, so they can be used in common.”3Liu Xi 劉熙, Further Interpretations and Annotations of A Comprehensive Dictionary of Terminologies [釋名疏證補],eds.Bi Yuan 畢沅 et al.(Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 2008), 211, 43.The genealogical study of ancient Chinese writing indicates that all characters that derived from 巠 had a direct or extended meaning of the radical.4Huang Dekuan 黃德寬 et al., eds., Further Textual Criticism of Genealogy of Ancient Chinese Writing [古文字譜系疏證](Beijing: Commercial Press, 2007), 2125.Therefore,the vertical threads on a loom were the original meaning ofjingand the others were extended meanings.As for paths, constancy and so on, these were all further extended meanings.

In the Zhou dynasty (1046—256 BCE), texts were usually inscribed on bronze vessels,bamboo slips, or wooden slips.“There must be something binding together such inscribed slips, so that their writing could be browsed manually.This could be leather thong or silk thread, but silk thread was much more convenient than leather thong.For this reason, texts were named after silk and thus known asjing經(jīng).”5Fan Wenlan 范文瀾, A Survey of Confucian Classics [群經(jīng)概論], in vol.1 of Complete Works of Fan Wenlan [范文瀾全集] (Shijiazhuang: Hebei Education Publishing House, 2002), 1.At first,jingdid not have any special meaning but referred simply to the way of binding together writing slips.Any writings could thus be calledjing.As a result, theLaoziwas also called theDaodejing, composed of a “Dao jing” [道經(jīng)] and a “De jing” [德經(jīng)]; theMozihad chapters titled “Upper Canons” [經(jīng)上]and “Lower Canons” [經(jīng)下]; and quotations apparently from a Daoist classic referred to asDao jing[道經(jīng)] can also be found in theXunzi.All these can explainjingin a broad sense.In a narrow sense,jingreferred exclusively to the Six Classics.In the mid- and late Warring States period (475—221 BCE), the Six Classics was a terminology that belonged exclusively to Confucians.Later, theBook of Musicdisappeared, and thus there were only Five Classics remaining.Later, Emperor Wu (r.140—87 BCE) of the Western Han set up the prestigious post of Erudite Scholar for the Five Classics and the study of Confucian classics (jingxue經(jīng)學) became the orthodox national thought.As time went on, the number of classics increased gradually.There were seven, nine, and even thirteen classics, fi nally.

Compared withjing, the Chinese charactershi史 (histories) appeared earlier, and there were different ways of writing it in oracle bone scripts.Generally it was an up-down structure, which consisted of the loweryou又 and the upperzhong中.The 又 meant the right hand.Therefore, 史 denoted that a person held something by the hand.In the WesternZhou, the shape of 史 changed repeatedly in inscriptions on bronze vessels.Even so, its meaning remained the same on all occasions.6Huang, Further Textual Criticism of Genealogy of Ancient Chinese Writing, 250—251.In inscriptions on bronze vessels attributed to the Shang dynasty (1600—1046 BCE), 中 was frequently depicted as a fl ying banner.Besides this, 中 in oracle bone scripts referred to a direction, military system, and palace name.7Ibid., 1165—1166.In view of this, the present author contends that the original meaning ofshimight be that a person held a banner with his right hand.

“Radical ofShi” [史部] inExpounding Graphs and Interpreting Characterswrites,“史 denotes those who record what has happened and is taking place.Its radical is 又 and it structurally has 中.Thezhongmeans impartiality.” Commenting on “史 denotes those who record what has happened and is taking place,” Duan Yucai noted, “According to‘Jade Pendants’ [玉藻] of theBook of Rites, ‘the LeftScribe (zuoshi左史) records what the sovereign does, while the Right Scribe(youshi右史) records what the sovereign says.’ The reason why the text does not mention the recorder of speeches is that such recording was embodied in the job done by the recorder of deeds.” Duan furthered the interpretation that “thezhongmeans impartiality,” and noted, “Whatever a sovereign does must be recorded.Therefore, an impartialshi(scribe) will never conceal a sovereign’s mistakes and wrongdoings.”8Xu Shen, Annotated Expounding Graphs and Interpreting Characters, 116.Obviously, the interpretation thatzhongmeant impartiality was based on an extension of the original meaning of the word.Wang Guowei 王國維 (1877—1927),investigating textual resources such as theRites of Zhou[周禮] and theBook of Etiquette and Ceremonial[儀禮], revealed that azhongshould be a vessel containing calculating tools,and since in ancient times calculating tools and slips were both in common use, azhongcould be a container of slips, too.9Wang Guowei 王國維, Complete Works of Wang Guowei [王國維全集], vol.8 (Hangzhou: Zhejiang Education Publishing House, 2010), 173.In view of this, the present author holds thatzhongmight refer to any writing medium, such as oracle bones and slips.Thus, the interpretation ofExpounding Graphs and Interpreting Charactersthat 史 had the radical of 又 and occupied中 referred to handwritten slips for recording events.Those who fi nished such slips were none other than scribes or historiographers (shiguan史官).

According to textual criticism done by Xu Fuguan 徐復觀 (1903—1982), the charactershiseldom appeared in oracle bone scripts.In the early Zhou,zuoce作冊 (making slips)was the role of scribes, and later a combined wordzhushi祝史 (prayer-recorder) emerged.10Xu Fuguan 徐復觀, History of Thought of the Han Dynasty [兩漢思想史], vol.3 (Shanghai: East China Normal University Press, 2001), 134—135.Extant literature indicates that as early as the early Western Zhou, there were professional scribes who were in charge of recording all important state affairs.“Superintendent of Rites”[宗伯] of “Spring Ministry” [春官] in theRites of Zhoudivided scribes into multiple groups,such as Grand Scribe (dashi大史), Minor Scribe (xiaoshi小史), Inner Scribe (neishi內(nèi)史),Outer Scribe (waishi外史), and Imperial Scribe (yushi御史), each of whom had specifi c duties.In addition, under almost each post recorded in theRites of Zhou, there were petty officials such as servicemen (shi士), storekeepers (fu府), assistants (xu胥), and attendants(tu徒).All this indicates that, at least in the Western Zhou, China had a thriving culture of scribes or historiographers.

All of this shows that, from the very beginning, classics and histories both covered a wide variety of topics, without specific references.We can even say that all written words were either classicsor histories.Even among the classical books recognized by later generations, some were actually written by official scribes.

The Differentiation of Classics and Histories and the Canonization of Confucian Classics [17]

In terms of the writing systems involved then, classicsand historical writingswere not greatly different from each other at the very beginning.Then, as human history constantly developed and the volume of records kept expanding, the contents of classics and histories graduallybecame differentiated.

Before the emergence of writing systems, humans kept records using their own memories or simple methods such as tying knots.Then, as writing systems were created and a human political society took shape, there were professionals who were in charge of recording political activities, social customs, and other affairs.These professionals were known as scribes.In very ancient times, when Chinese culture and scholarship had not yet become highly differentiated, these scribes played quite a signifi cant role in inheriting and disseminating culture.Xu Fuguan observed,

Ancient Chinese culture evolved from religion and grew in the direction of humanism,which followed the development of the position of the scribe.Cultural progress followed the continual improvement of the scribes’ cultural level....If one wishes to explore the origins of Chinese scholarship, one must always bear in mind that all types of scholarship originated from the work of the scribes.11Xu Fuguan, History of Thought of the Han Dynasty, 140.

Extant records shed light on what the earliest books of history were.According toZuo’s Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals[左傳] (hereinafter shortened asZuo’s Commentary): “When the king emerged, they continued their conversation.The scribe of the leftYixiang hurried across the court, and the king said, ‘This is a good scribe.Look well upon him.He is able to reciteThree Barrows[三墳],Five Canons[五典],Eight Guidelines[八

索], andNine Mounds[九丘].’”12“Duke Zhao, Twelfth Year” [昭公十二年], in Zuo’s Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals [左傳].The English translations of Zuo’s Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals in this paper are based on Stephen Durrant, Wai-yee Li, and David Schaberg’s version, with some alterations.History books such asThree Barrowshad long been lost, and hence nobody knows what they in fact recorded.It is generally held that these earliest historical works were records of words and deeds of sovereigns in high antiquity.These works were obviously of a historical nature in the context ofZuo’s Commentary.

It is certain that all the Six Classics originally had the form of historiography.Among them, theBook of Changeswas the earliest.According to the “Record of Arts and Literature”[藝文志] in theHistory of the Former Han[漢書], the completion of theBook of Changesexperienced three phases, that is, Fuxi 伏羲 setting down the eight trigrams, King Wen of Zhou deducing the sixty-four hexagrams, and Confucius composing interpretive treatises on all the hexagrams.Fuxi was a legendary fi gure.Thus, his setting down of the eight trigrams is not reliable.On the other hand, the assertion that sixty-four hexagrams evolved from eight trigrams is grounded in fact.The Grand Scribe’s Records[史記] mention King Wen of Zhou’s further elaboration of these diagrams.This indicates that at least in the early Western Zhou, theBook of Changeshad already taken shape.Extant materials reveal that the creation of theBook of Changeswas affected by the culture epitomized by scribes.In other words, the authorship of theBook of Changesshould be attributed to scribes in high antiquity.13Zhu Bokun 朱伯崑, History of Philosophy Embedded in the Book of Changes [易學哲學史], vol.1 (Beijing: Huaxia Publishing House, 1995), 12.

TheBook of Poetrywas a general collection of ancient Chinese poems.It has preserved 305 pieces of poetic work, whose authorship is generally unknown.According to therecords of “Treatise on Economy, Part I” [食貨志上] in theHistory of the Former Hanand “Refined Literature” [修文] in theGarden of Persuasions[說苑], these poems were collected by officials in charge of literature and then presented to the Grand Preceptor, who intensively evaluated them and finally made a selection.Few scholars cast doubt on this process.The Grand Preceptor, as one of the Three Dukes together with the Grand Guardian and Grand Mentor, were not scribes but had close relationships with scribes.As “Guardian and Mentor” [保傅] inElder Dai’s Book of Rites[大戴禮記] records:

The Grand Preceptor has the duty to prevent the Son of Heaven from being ignorant of the virtues of past sage kings, the sovereign’s Way (dao道) of raising the people, the rectitude of rites and moral principles, the use of ritual propriety in handling affairs, the extensive knowledge in various canons, the proper gradations of dignifi ed manner, the essence of theBook of Poetryand theBook of Historyas well as music and rites, and the correct ways of study.

Here, the “virtues of past sage kings” and “extensive knowledge in various canons” should all be categorized as histories.

TheBook of Historywas a collection of political documents and treatises.The earliest writings in this book can ostensively be traced back to the times of the legendary sage king Yao 堯, and the chronology of this book ends in the time of Duke Mu of Qin (r.659—621 BCE).It consists of pieces of canons, counsels, announcements, and speeches.As for its editions, there are theNew Text of the Book of History[今文尚書] and theOld Text of the Book of History[古文尚書].The New Text, which has twenty-nine chapters, refers to the edition preserved by Fu Sheng 伏勝 (ca.260—161 BCE), who kept the original text in face of the Qin state’s ban.The Old Text, a collection of fi fty-eight chapters, was discovered in a broken wall of Confucius’s former residence, which was damaged by Liu Yu 劉馀 (d.128 BCE), an enfeoffed king during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han.It is generally held that the extantOld Text of the Book of Historyis a pseudograph made by later scholars.Judging from its contents, it can be safely concluded that theBook of Historywas produced by scribes.“Jade Pendants” in theBook of Ritesand “Brief Introduction to the Six Classics” [六藝略] in theHistory of the Former Hanunambiguously corroborate this.

The set of books respecting ancient rites included theBook of Etiquette and Ceremonial,theBook of Rites, and theRites of Zhou.TheBook of Etiquette and Ceremonialwas written in New Text; theRites of Zhou, in Old Text; and theBook of Rites, a huge assemblage of miscellaneous materials, in both Old and New Text.TheBook of Etiquette and Ceremonial,of which seventeen chapters still exist, began with “Capping of Scholar-Officials” [士冠禮].Therefore, it was also known as theRites of Scholar-Officials[士禮] in the Han dynasty(206 BCE—220 CE).TheRites of Zhouwas originally titled theMinistries of Zhou[周官],until Liu Xin 劉歆 (d.23) renamed it theRites of Zhou.There should be six parts in total.Unfortunately, the chapter “Winter Ministry” [冬官] later disappeared.Later, it was restored usingRecords on the Examination of Craftsmanship[考工記].Although the date of theRites of Zhouis still under discussion, it is generally thought that the book should have been created in the Warring States period.TheBook of Riteshad two editions.One wasElder Dai’s Book of Ritesand the other wasYounger Dai’s Book of Rites[小戴禮記].Elder Dai’s Book of Riteswas produced by Dai De 戴德 with thirty-nine chapters extant.Younger Dai’s Book of Riteswas compiled by Dai Sheng 戴圣 (fl.51 BCE) with forty-nine chapters extant.TheBook of Ritesthat appears in the Thirteen Classics isYounger Dai’s Book of Rites.Among the three books of rites, theBook of Etiquette and Ceremonialis the oldest and its authorship remains as yet unknown.The contents of theBook of Etiquette and Ceremonialindicate that this book might be related to the work of the Grand Preceptor as mentioned above.Therefore, it should be closely connected to ancient scribes.

TheSpring and Autumn Annalsis an official history of the state of Lu.In the Spring and Autumn period (770—476 BCE), each state had its own official history.These history books in different states had different names.For example, the state of Jin hadVehicle[乘] and the state of Chu hadTaowu[梼杌], as recorded inMencius4B:21.Extant materials demonstrate that the state of Lu’sSpring and Autumn Annalspreceded Confucius.Wang Chong 王充 (27—ca.97), a famous scholar in the Eastern Han, observed that “there was an unrevised edition ofSpring and Autumn Annals, for instance, the record of Lu, when it had not yet been revised by Confucius.”14Wang Chong 王充, “Exaggeration” [藝增], quoted in Huang Hui 黃暉, “Commentaries on Balanced Discourses” [論衡校釋], vol.8 (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1990), 391.“Duke Zhao, Second Year” [昭公二年] inZuo’s Commentaryrecords how Duke Ping of Jin (r.557—532 BCE) sent Hanxuanzi 韓宣子 (d.514 BCE) to visit Lu and“read the images of theBook of ChangesandLu’s Spring and Autumn Annals[魯春秋], as preserved by Lu’s Grand Scribe,” which further corroborates this.Because this book recorded events chronologically, it was named theSpring and Autumn Annals.

Based on the above discussions, we contend that the Six Classics all originate from histories.Wang Shizhen 王世貞 (1526—1590), a Ming scholar, said, “There is nothing but history between Heaven and Earth.The time of the Three Sovereigns is too indistinct to be known.So is the era of the Five Emperors.Alas! How can history itself come to end?...All the Six Classics are historical writings discussing principles.”15Wang Shizhen 王世貞, Annotated Assorted Talks about Arts and Literature [藝苑卮言校注], vol.1, ed.Luo Zhongding羅仲鼎 (Jinan: Qilu Press, 1992), 32.Zhang Xuecheng 章學誠(1738—1801), a Qing scholar, inherited Wang Shizhen’s thought and developed it into a well-known assertion: “The Six Classics are all historical writings, since the ancients did not write purely personal works, and never set forth principles without historical grounds.The Six Classics are all political canons of past sovereigns.”16Zhang Xuecheng 章學誠, “The Teachings of the Book of Changes, Part I” [易教上], in General Meaning of Literature and History [文史通義] (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, 2008), 1.Zhang’s theory was so extensively infl uential that it even created a consensus among historians.

In terms of textual content, the present author contends that all writings can be regarded as histories in a broad rather than a narrow sense.However, if people were to merely treat the Six Classics as historical records, they would be solely concerned about affairs and pay no heed to principles.If things continued this way, people would see only changes and fail to grasp the constant, and the status and signifi cance of the classics would be less prominent.The reason why certain books could be venerated as classics was that they had extricated themselves from the restrictions of historiography and grasped the constant Way amidst the changes of history.The status of classic could not be attained in one step, but required a long course of canonization.

Although the authorship of the Six Classics still cannot be confirmed, it is generally held that most of them were produced in the period extending from the Western Zhou dynasty down to the Spring and Autumn period.Chen Lai 陳來 has observed:

The course of canonization of classics in the Western Zhou dynasty and the Spring and Autumn period was not declared by the political authorities.Rather, this canonization was, on the one hand, inseparably related to the system respecting the reception of envoys and ritual culture in the Western Zhou dynasty and the Spring and Autumn period(see the example of theBook of Poetry); on the other hand, it was gradually centralized and realized through repeated quotations and references made by well-educated people including scholar-officials.17Chen Lai 陳來, The Ancient Intellectual and Cultural World: Religion, Ethics and Social Thought in the Spring and Autumn Period [古代思想文化的世界：春秋時代的宗教、倫理與社會思想] (Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company 2009), 170.

This can be corroborated by the canonization ofZuo’s Commentaryand theDiscourses of the States[國語].

As for the quotation of the Six Classics as evidence in the Spring and Autumn period,various ancient Chinese scholars have made analyses.For example, Gu Donggao 顧棟高(1679—1759), a Qing scholar, noted: “Looking intoZuo’s Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals, I fi nd that it quotes twenty-fi ve times from theBook of Poetry, twenty-two times from theBook of History, and seventeen times from theBook of Changes.”18Gu Donggao 顧棟高, Chronology of Great Events in the Spring and Autumn Period [春秋大事年表] (Beijing:Zhonghua Book Company, 1993), 2549.Moreover,Gu made a detailed table shedding light on howZuo’s Commentarycited the three classics.Here we select a few cases in which the three classics were quoted byZuo’s Commentary, in the hope that the canonization of these writings can be displayed for readers.

The fi rst quotation inZuo’s Commentarywas taken from theBook of Poetry.It runs as follows:

A Song leader laid siege to Cao: this was to chastise them for not submitting.Ziyu 子魚said to the Duke Xiang of Song (r.650—637 BCE), “When King Wen of Zhou heard that the virtue of Duke Hu of Chong was in disarray, he attacked this vassal state.The military operations lasted thirty days, but Chong did not surrender.So, King Wen withdrew to improve his instruction of the army and then attacked them again.He depended upon his former entrenchments, and they surrendered.As it says in theBook of Poetry, ‘He was a model to his wife— / It reached to his brothers, / And he thereby governed family and state.’ Now, could it be that My Lord’s virtue is still defi cient? Yet you would employ it to attack others.What will come of this? Why not, for the time being, scrutinize your own virtue and take action only when you are without defi ciencies?” (“Duke Xi, Nineteenth Year” [僖公十九年])

In this quotation, Ziyu, repeating the story in which Duke Hu of Chong was subjugated by King Wen of Zhou, showed his duke how signifi cant the endeavor to win people over by virtue was.The poem that Ziyu cited was “Pure and Reverent” [思齊] from the “Great Odes” [大雅] in theBook of Poetry.

The second quotation inZuo’s Commentarywas taken from theBook of History.It runs as follows:

Duke Xian of Jin (r.676—651) again gained permission to pass through Yu to attack Guo....The Duke [of Yu] said, “My offerings and sacrifi ces are abundant and pure.The gods are certain to sustain me.” Gong Zhiqi 宮之奇 responded, “I have heard that the ghosts and spirits do not show favoritism toward men, but it is the virtuous alone to whom they turn.Therefore, as it says in theBook of Zhou[周書], ‘August Heaven has no favorites; only the virtuous does it assist.’ It also says, ‘The millet is not fragrant; bright virtue alone is fragrant.’ And it also says, ‘People do not change the offerings; virtue alone is the offering.’So it is that in the absence of virtue, the people will not be in harmony and the spirits will not be pleased.” (“Duke Xi, Fifth Year” [僖公五年])

Gong Zhiqi, citing theBook of Zhouthree times in the conversation, did his best to dissuade the Duke of Yu from permitting Jin to pass through Yu to attack Guo, on the grounds that Yu and Guo, two small states, were heavily dependent on each other.Gong’s citations were respectively from “Charge to Zhong of Cai” [蔡仲之命], “Junchen” [君陳], and “Hounds of Lü” [旅獒] in theBook of Zhou, as compiled in theBook of History.

Zuo’s Commentaryalso adduced quotations from theBook of Changes.For instance,Mu Jiang 穆姜 expired in the Eastern Palace.When she fi rst went there, she divined by milfoil and encountered the eight ofGen艮 (Restraint).The scribe said, “This means the hexagramGengoing toSui隨 (Following).Suiis about leaving.You are sure to leave soon!” Mu Jiang said, “Not so! About this, theBook of Changessays, ‘Sui: prime, offering,benefit, constancy, no blame.’...With these four virtues,Suistill has ‘no blame.’ But since I have none of them, how can this be deemedSui? Since I have taken up evil, how can there be no blame? I am sure to die here.I will not be able to leave!” (“Duke Xiang,Ninth Year” [襄公九年])

Apart from theBook of Poetry,Book of History, andBook of Changes,Zuo’s Commentaryalso quoted or discussed rites and music in relation to theSpring and Autumn Annals.Zuo’s Commentaryitself was an interpretive work of theSpring and Autumn Annals, and therefore it seldom quoted this work.Even so, it did mention theSpring and Autumn Annalsseveral times.For example, the records of “Duke Cheng, Fourteen Year” [成公十四年] and “Duke Zhao, Thirty-First Year” [昭公三十一年] referred to the basic rules developed by theSpring and Autumn Annals.And as mentioned before, “Duke Zhao,Second Year” kept an account of Hanxuanzi’s mission to Lu, where he read the unrevised originalSpring and Autumn Annals.

AlthoughZuo’s Commentarydid not quote theBook of Etiquette and Ceremonialdirectly,it passed judgment in light of whether or not affairs accorded with ritual and ceremonial propriety.For example,

The Qi leaders fi nally made peace for Song and Wei with Zheng.In autumn, they met up at Wen and swore a covenant at Wawu so as to dispel the ill will from the campaign at the eastern gate.This was in accordance with ritual propriety.(“Duke Yin, Eighth Year” [隱公八年])

In autumn, Prince Hui of Lu went to Qi to meet and escort home a bride.He fostered the amity that prevailed among the former rulers, and appeared here with his full title of prince (duke’s son).The Duke of Qi escorted his daughter Lady Jiang to Huan: this was not in accordance with the rites.(“Duke Huan, Third Year” [桓公三年])

In addition,Zuo’s Commentaryset forth in detail the role that rites could play in society.It said, “Ritual is that which regulates the state and its patrimonies, stabilizes the altars of the state, gives order to the people, and benefi ts inheritors” (“Duke Yin, Eleventh Year” [隱公十一年]).In the eyes ofZuo’s Commentary, ritual propriety played quite a signifi cant role in state politics, serving as the most basic rule of a state, the grandest principle of the people and the most fundamental criterion of the entire social order.As for music, it was embodied in ritual propriety in the broad sense.For example, one record inZuo’s Commentarystates,

In winter, the heir apparent of Cao came to visit our court.That we received him in the manner appropriate to a high minister was in accordance with ritual propriety.We offered him ceremonial toasts.During the first wine offering, as the music began, he sighed.Shifu 施父 said, “Surely the Cao heir apparent will have some reason for grief!This is not the proper occasion for a sigh.” (“Duke Huan, Ninth Year” [桓公九年])

The above discussions indicate that, by the Spring and Autumn period, the Six Classics represented by theBook of Poetryand theBook of Historyhad already become classics quoted frequently by the class of scholar-officials.The reason scholar-officials thought highly of the Six Classics and were very familiar with such literature was that they studied them from childhood.The “Discourses of Chu, Part I” [楚語上] chapter of theDiscourses of Statesreads,

King Zhuang [of Chu] (d.591 BCE) appointed a scholar known as Wei to be the tutor of Prince Zhen....This new royal tutor asked for advice from Shenshu Shi 申叔時 (fl.598 BCE), a renowned noble of Chu.Shen told him: “You should teach the Prince theSpring and Autumn Annals, through which the student’s inherent goodness will be consolidated,his evilness restrained, and his mind protected from being corrupted; theGenealogies of Former Kings[世], through which the student’s virtue will be made more illustrious, his fatuousness dispelled, and his behavior made more well-disciplined; theBook of Poetry,through which the student’s good nature will be extended and his aspirations be made more shining; theBook of Rites, through which the student will know well the rules regulating the social hierarchy; theBook of Music, through which the student’s mindwill be purified and fickleness be eliminated; theCodes of Former Kings[令], through which the student will gain insight into various administrative affairs; theDiscussions of Governance[語], through which the student will understand the importance of virtue and grasp the truth that former great sovereigns devoted themselves to governing by virtue;theBook of Past Politics[故志], through which the student will know the rules reigning over the rise and fall of a state and remain always apprehensive and cautious; and theInstitutions of Former Kings[訓典], through which the student will comprehend the differences existing between ethnic groups and what he should emulate.”

It should be evident that the textbooks with which scholar-officials were taught at the time were usually based on the Six Classics.Although these quotations did not directly mention theBook of History, what they recorded, such as theInstitutions of Former Kings, was similar to this classic.If Chu, a southern state that was comparatively less developed, had incorporated the Six Classics or similar writings into education, we can imagine how deeply the Six Classics had infl uenced the aristocratic education in the Central Plains.In addition to the above-mentioned record that an envoy sent by the Duke Ping of Jin had read the images of theBook of Changesand the original ofLu’s Spring and Autumn Annals, “Discourses of Jin” [晉語] in theDiscourses of Statesreveals that Shuxiang 叔向 (fl.557—537 BCE), a famous senior official of Jin, “had a good mastery of theSpring and Autumn Annals.”

All these records demonstrate that by this time, the Six Classics had already become very authoritative.This was actually an important driving force of the canonization of the Six Classics.A researcher says, “The nature of a classic was not dependent on the writing itself but on how it was practically treated and used in the community.This is the reason why we try to understand the Spring and Autumn period’s need for canonized writings from the perspective of quotation and reference.”19Chen, The Ancient Intellectual and Cultural World: Religion Ethics and Social Thought in the Spring and Autumn Period, 170.However, it should be noted that,although canonization did play an important role in society, its influence was actually very limited, merely affecting the class of scholar-officials and their political activities.Furthermore, scholar-officials’ quotation and interpretation of the Six Classics was sporadic and far from systematic.How to systematically explicate the Six Classics and make them vital again in the society of the time? How to popularize the education of the Six Classics among the ordinary people and lead them to exert a much more extensive influence on society? It was Confucius who accomplished these two tasks.

Confucius’s Creative Reconstruction of the Six Classics and His View of History [22]

“Hereditary House of Confucius” [孔子世家] inThe Grand Scribe’s Recordsrecounts how Confucius reorganized and reconstructed the extant writings of his time into the Six Classics:

During the time of Confucius, the [Royal] House of Zhou had declined, the ancient rites and music were forgotten, and many of the songs and records were missing.He verifi ed the rites of the Three Dynasties and compiled theBook of History, arranging the records chronologically from the time of Yao and Shun 舜 to that of Duke Mu of Qin, marshaling the facts in good order....With regard to the differences between the Shang (1600—1046 BCE) and the Xia (ca.2070—1600 BCE) cultures, he declared, “Far removed as we are in time, we can still tell that one culture was elaborate, the other simple.The Zhou, which learned from both, reached a pinnacle of culture.I follow Zhou.” Thus, both theBook of Historyand theBook of Riteswere compiled by Confucius.He told the chief musician of Lu, “Something of music can be known....Since my return from Wei to Lu, I have set right the music and arranged the ‘Odes’ [雅] and ‘Hymns’ [頌] in proper order.”There were more than three thousand ancient songs, but Confucius rejected those which were repetitious and retained those which had moral value with ritual propriety[.]...Confucius chose 305 songs in all, and these he set to music and sang, fi tting them to the music of Emperor Shun and King Wu.After that the old rites and music became widely known, to the enrichment of the kingly culture, and the Six Classics were established.In his old age Confucius loved to study theBook of Changesand compiledCommentaries on the Book of Changes.20The English translations of The Grand Scribe’s Records in this paper are based on Yang Xianyi 楊憲益 and Gladys Yang’s 戴乃迭 version, 271, 273, with some alterations.

The New Text and Old Text schools of Confucian classics held different views on them.The New Text School believed that it was Confucius who authored these classics; by contrast,the Old Text School only asserted that Confucius played a crucial role in reorganizing and compiling them.Extant materials demonstrate that the Six Classics preceded Confucius.Therefore, it is obviously wrong to attribute the authorship of the Six Classics to Confucius.By comparison, to assert Confucius’s compilation of the Six Classics is not wholly unreasonable, even though it is very much open to discussion.

Historically, there were different opinions about Confucius’s deletion and selection of poetic works.Wang Chong agreed with the account inThe Grand Scribe’s Records, saying that “Confucius made efforts to delete all repetitious poems and preserved slightly over three hundred rectifi ed ones” (Balanced Discourses, “Rectifi ed Sayings” [正說]).Contrary to Wang, some, such as Kong Yingda 孔穎達 (574—648), cast doubt onThe Grand Scribe’s Records, contending that:

Digging into theBook of Historyand relevant interpretive works, I fi nd that most of the quoted poems are still extant and very few have disappeared.From this perspective, it was impossible for Confucius to delete ninety percent of the poetic works that he had read.Thus, it can be concluded that Sima Qian’s 司馬遷 (145—90 BCE) assertion that there was a pool of over three thousand poems for Confucius’s selection was not well-grounded.21Mao Heng 毛亨, “Preface to the Book of Poetry” [詩譜序], in Rectifi ed Annotations to the Mao Edition Book of Poetry[毛詩正義], in Commentaries and Subcommentaries of the Thirteen Classics [十三經(jīng)注疏] eds.Zheng Xuan 鄭玄and Kong Yingda 孔穎達 (Beijing: Peking University Press, 2000), 9.

Generally speaking, Confucius’s editing and compilation of theBook of Poetryis, at least to some extent, believable.According to extant literature, there are indeed some ancient poems that were not included in theBook of Poetrysorted out by Confucius.For example, inAnalects9:31, one can read: “The blossoms of the cherry, / how they fl utter and turn./ It’s not that I don’t think of you, / but your house is far away.”22The English translations of the Analects in this paper are based on Burton Watson’s version, with some alterations.Since this poem cannot be found in present text of theBook of Poetry, it might be one of the poetic works deleted by Confucius.

As for theBook of History, theApocrypha of the Book of History[尚書緯] discusses Confucius’s compilation of the text:

In searching for written literature as widely as possible, Confucius found a work by Di Kui 帝魁, the great-great-grandson of the Yellow Emperor.This work ended in records about Duke Mu of Qin and consisted of 3,240 chapters in total.Confucius made careful judgments about all records concerning the remote and recent past and fi nally selected 120 chapters from this work.Among these he selected 102 chapters as theBook of Historywhile 18 chapters were put together intoDivination and Fulfi llment[中候].

“Record of Arts and Literature” in theHistory of the Former Hanrecounts that, “The origin of theBook of Historyshould be traced back to high antiquity.Confucius collated it and selected one hundred or so records extending from the period of Yao down to the state of Qin.Confucius himself prefaced this collection.” When theBook of Historywas banned by the Qin, Fu Sheng had some copies hidden inside a wall and finally 29 chapterswere preserved.Then, thanks to King Xian of Hejian’s (d.130 BCE) donation and the discovery of a lost edition in a broken wall of Confucius’s former residence, the number of chapters was increased.Yan Shigu 顏師古 (581—645), a Tang scholar annotating theHistory of the Former Han, noted that, “What Liu Xiang 劉向 (77—6 BCE) discussed,that is, announcements, speeches, and orders made in the time of the Zhou, was the one hundred or so chapters collated by Confucius.”23Ban Gu 班固, “Record of Arts and Literature” [藝文志], in vol.6 of History of the Former Han [漢書], ed.Yan Shigu顏師古 (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1962), 1706.Yan’s annotation indicates that, although the story that Confucius carved out theBook of Historyby cutting down three thousand pieces of written literature was not well-grounded, it is reasonable that Confucius selected appropriate chapters from one hundred or so treatises.

Other classics such as theBook of Changes, theSpring and Autumn Annals, and theBook of Rites, were all amended or annotated by Confucius.BothThe Grand Scribe’s Recordsand the “Record of Arts and Literature” mention that the authorship ofCommentaries on the Book of Changescan be attributed to Confucius.TheMenciusis the earliest text asserting that Confucius authored theSpring and Autumn Annals.According toMencius3B:9,“Again, the world declined, and the Way was concealed.Deviant speech and oppressive actions again became prevalent.There were cases of ministers murdering their rulers and of sons murdering their parents.Confucius was afraid, and so wrote theSpring and Autumn Annals.”24The English translations of the Mencius in this paper are based on Irene Bloom’s version, with some alterations.The New Text and Old Text schools had different understandings of this record.The New Text School held that Confucius’s penning theSpring and Autumn Annalswas not a work of collation but a creative work, and that the author’s ultimate goal was not merely producing a history text covering a single period but creating an indelible work guiding all ages.Contrary to this, the Old Text School argued that Confucius did not write theSpring and Autumn Annalsby himself but rather assembled existing historical documents into a single text.In comparison, the Old Text School view is rather more reasonable.When it comes to theBook of Etiquette and Ceremonial, some have said that Confucius compiled it in a manner similar to theBook of History.Pi Xirui 皮錫瑞 (1850—1908), a Qing scholar, said,

The extantBook of Etiquette and Ceremonialhas seventeen chapters.It is said that theBookof Etiquette and Ceremonialwas one of the works produced by the Duke of Zhou.But on the other hand, the number of chapters of the original copy of theBook of Etiquette and Ceremonialmight not be merely seventeen, so that Confucius deleted some chapters;on the other hand, the original number might be less than seventeen, so that Confucius added some chapters into the original copy.The truth about the situation is still unknown to us.The record that “an official known as Ru Bei 孺悲 was sent to Confucius, who taught him the propriety applied to the mourning for officials, and thus the treatise titled‘Mourning Rituals for Officials’ [士喪禮] was composed” might demonstrate that the extant seventeen chapters were indeed amended and selected by Confucius.25Pi Xirui 皮錫瑞, History of Confucian Classics [經(jīng)學歷史] (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 2008), 19—20.

The contribution made by Confucius to the Six Classics was not confi ned to collation and explication.Most importantly, Confucius creatively discovered the constant Way (or moral significance) embedded in the Six Classics on the basis of the concrete actualities recorded by these ancient writings.AsMencius4B:21 relates,

With the disappearance of the wooden-clappered bell of the kings, the odes were lost, and only then was theSpring and Autumn Annalscomposed.TheVehicleof Jin, theTaowuof Chu, and theSpring and Autumn Annalsof Lu are alike in dealing with persons such as Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Wen of Jin, and in being written in a historical style.Confucius said, “The moral signifi cance of theSpring and Autumn Annals—I venture to say I understand it.”

In terms of written style and historical records, Confucius’sSpring and Autumn Annalswas not very different from the history books of other states in his time.It must be noted that the importance of Confucius’s work did not simply lie in recording historical events but rather in fi nding the moral signifi cance contained within them.“Hereditary House of Confucius” demonstrates this, recording that:

The master said, “Alas! Alas! What a gentleman dreads is to die before his name is known.My Way is not popular.How shall I make myself known to later ages?” Thus he compiled theSpring and Autumn Annalsbased on historical records....Though the rulers of Wu and Chu had styled themselves as kings, theSpring and Autumn Annalscriticizes them by calling them “viscounts.” Although Duke Wen of Jin actually summoned the Son of Heaven from Zhou to a meeting at Jiantu, theSpring and Autumn Annalsrecords that “the Heavenly King went to hunt at Heyang.” These examples can be used as criteria in any age to criticize or condemn men’s actions, and later princes should uphold this tradition and broaden its application.When the principles of theSpring and Autumn Annalsare carried out, all traitors and evil-doers in the world must tremble.

Confucius made great efforts to expound on the moral signifi cance embedded in classics other than theSpring and Autumn Annals, too.He said, “The three hundred poems of theBook of Poetrymay be summed up in a single phrase: ‘Think of nothing base (si wuxie思無邪)’” (Analects2:2).This phrase was cited from “Stalwart Horses” [] from “Praise-Odes of Lu” [魯頌] in theBook of Poetry.Si思 originally was a functional word having no meaning.Confucius creatively transformedsiinto a verb meaning “to think” and used“think of nothing base” to generalize the overarching principle of the entireBook of Poetry.Furthermore, Confucius did similar work on theBook of Changes.By doing so, he innovatively turned a book of divination into a book of philosophy.“The Essentials” [要] in the unearthed silkBook of Changesrecords that,

The Master (Confucius) said, “As for theBook of Changes, I do indeed put its prayers and divinations last, only observing its virtue and moral significance.Intuiting the commendations to reach numbers, and illuminating numbers to reach virtue, the benevolent hold to this and enact it through righteousness.If the commendations do not lead to numbers, then one merely acts as a diviner; if numbers do not lead to virtue,then one merely acts as a scribe....I seek its virtue and nothing more.I am on the same path as the scribes and diviners but end up somewhere else.The gentleman’s virtuous conduct is to seek blessings; that is why he sacrifices, but seldom; his benevolence and righteousness is to seek auspiciousness; that is why he divines, but rarely.Do not the divinations of priests and diviners come last!”26The English translation is based on Edward L.Shaughnessy’s version, with some alterations.

Being different from diviners and scribes, Confucius paid attention to the underlying moral value and signifi cance of theBook of Changesrather than to its divination.

It was precisely Confucius’s exploration of their constant Way (or moral signifi cance)that equipped the Six Classics with the quality of constancy and enabled them to be successfully spun offfrom purely historical archives or detailed records.Precisely because of this remarkable contribution, Confucius has an irreplaceable position in the history of the study of Confucian classics, and this tradition initiated by Confucius was inherited and carried through by later Confucians.

The reason why Confucius was able to creatively transform the Six Classics and discover the constant Way underlying their changing histories was connected to his intellectual relation to the scribes.Outwardly, Confucius was a conservative person in favor of preserving and returning to the past, just as he himself said, “[I am a] transmitter and not a maker, trusting in and loving antiquity, I venture to compare myself with our venerable Old Peng” (Analects7:1).Moreover, he had a strong belief in the ancient culture epitomizedby the ritual system of the (Western) Zhou, assertively saying, “The Zhou surveyed the two dynasties that went before, and its ways are refi ned and elegant.I follow the Zhou” (3:14).In fact, the Zhou culture discussed by Confucius was not the old Zhou culture but a new culture that Confucius himself had interpreted and idealized.Confucius explained why he thought so highly of the (Western) Zhou ritual system, saying, “The Shang dynasty followed the rites of Xia, and we know in what ways it added to or subtracted from them.The Zhou follows the rites of Shang, and we know in what ways it added to or subtracted from them.Whoever carries on from the Zhou, we can know how things will be even a hundred generations from now” (2:23).According to Confucius’s observation, the reason why the Zhou rites outdid those of Xia and Shang was that they incorporated the good points of the Xia and Shang rites.Moreover, he implied that the Zhou ritual system would be critically inherited by later generations.This demonstrates that Confucius was by no means a cultural conservative, but was instead a cultural innovator who was always striving to keep up with the times.Herein lies the greatness of Confucius.

In addition to making the Six Classics vital again through systematic reinterpretation,Confucius popularized these classics among the ordinary people by means of education.Due to his efforts, the Six Classics exerted a deep and extensive influence on the society at the time.Renowned modern Chinese philosopher Feng Youlan 馮友蘭 (1895—1990) observed,

Thus, even though the use of the Six Classics for teaching purposes may not have commenced with Confucius, it was certainly he who originated their use for general teaching and for bringing culture to large masses of people....Hence Confucius remains as the first to carry on extensive instruction, and is probably primarily responsible for inaugurating the movement which led many later philosophic schools to compete with one another in attracting followers.27Feng Youlan, A History of Chinese Philosophy, vol.1, trans.Derk Bodde (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1952),49—50.

Thanks to Confucius’s contribution to these two historic missions, the canonization of the Six Classics was truly realized, and Chinese culture was inspired with new vitality.

A Modern Revelation [26]

The above discussions reveal a complicated course, in which the relationship between classics and histories evolved constantly.At first, classics and histories were all discussed from the perspective of writing systems, so they were not very different from one another.With the development of human society, classics and histories gradually separated.The classics fi nally metamorphosized into texts with canonical signifi cance, while the histories developed into a medium for keeping an account of historical events.Due to Confucius’s creative reconstruction of the Six Classics, there was an ever-growing disparity between classics and histories in terms of status.After Confucius, the Six Classics exerted deep, far-reaching influence on Chinese politics, society, and culture, even though they had not yet become the political orthodoxy.In the Western Han, Dong Zhongshu 董仲舒 (179—104 BCE) found a solution for how to break away from the Qin system and create a new Han system by creatively developing the study ofGongyang’s Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals[春秋公羊傳].As a result, the study of Confucian classics acquired an unparalleled primacy and authority.From then on,Chinese political ideology always treated the Confucian classics as a bellwether, in spite of their diverse manifestations in different times.Against the political backdrop of great unifi cation,all aspects of Chinese culture must be under the guidance and regulation of the study of Confucian classics.The study of history was of course not an exception.

The relationship between classics and histories was essentially a relationship between constancy and change.Classics were universal and abstract, epitomizing the constant Way and giving expression to the unity that penetrated the entirety of ancient Chinese culture.Histories were concrete and individual, representing concrete events in the ever-changing course of history and changing themselves as the times changed.The study of classics could not develop without histories, on the grounds that the abstract and constant Way must manifest itself in concrete historical events.In like manner, histories could not grow without the study of classics, on the grounds that historical writings in isolation from classics would inevitably be fragmentary and disordered fragmentary, disordered history would have no value for its existence.

The guiding role of the study of Confucian classics for historiography was that it justifi ed the orthodoxy and value of Chinese dynasties in history.The writings of orthodox history must be primarily oriented by orthodoxy, and this was particularly evident in the division of dynasties.The reason whyGongyang’s Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annalswas affirmed by sovereigns of political grand unification was because it provided their rule with a theoretical foundation.It was actually an internal driving force guaranteeing that the Chinese nation would always achieve such grand unification regardless of difficulties and chaos caused by wars.Based on the theory of grand unifi cation,the Chinese civilization has always been able to protect national unity from being broken in its historical evolution down to the present day.

In present-day China, the study of both Confucian classics and histories have changed dramatically.Since the total collapse of the last feudal dynasty, the material carrier of the study of Confucian classics has ceased to exist.Consequently, the constant Way epitomized by the study of Confucian classics no longer possesses the universality that it previously seemed to have.Indeed, this study itself has been divided and deconstructed into modern disciplines such as philosophy, history, and literature.At the same time, historiography is no longer used to “honor the classics and defend the Way” or to sing the praises of imperial rule by a particular family or the group of feudal lords, and has turned itself into a new science of history as a modern academic system.Under such circumstances, the study of both Confucian classics and histories faces a question: How to realize their creative transformation and innovative development? In this regard, President Xi Jinping has asserted that:

We should make the past serve the present, taking the past as a mirror for today,distinguishing what can be used, and what cannot, and carrying forward while assimilating,instead of esteeming the past over the present and using the past to negate the present.We should learn to transform and boost traditional culture in a creative way, to integrate old and new, and let both of them serve our current mission of cultivating the people.28Xi Jinping, The Governance of China II (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 2017), 341—342.

To be specific, this study should be connected with China’s social reality and present conditions.In respect of the study of Confucian classics and Chinese history, researchers should accept Marxism as the guiding principle, develop traditional scholarship through carrying forward its excellent aspects, and carry it forward while developing it in a creative way,making it adaptable to the times and capable of meeting the needs of cultural development.

Bibliography of Cited Translations:

Bloom, Irene, trans.Mencius.New York: Columbia University Press, 2009.

Durrant, Stephen, Wai-yee Li, and David Schaberg, trans.Zuo Tradition: Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals.Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2016.

Shaughnessy, Edward L., trans.I Ching: The Classic of Changes.New York: Ballantine Books, 1996.

Watson, Burton, trans.The Analects of Confucius.New York: Columbia University Press, 2007.

Yang, Xianyi 楊憲益, and Gladys Yang 戴乃迭, trans.Selections from Records of the Historian[史記選].3 vols.Library of Chinese Classics [大中華文庫].Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 2008.