What Is the Holy Book of Confucianism? The Four Books and Five Classics

Confucianism has no single holy book. Its scriptures are the Four Books and Five Classics. The Five Classics are the Classic of Poetry, the Book of Documents, the Book of Rites, the I Ching, and the Spring and Autumn Annals. The Four Books are the Analects, the Mencius, the Great Learning, and the Doctrine of the Mean.

Is There One Holy Book in Confucianism?

No. Confucianism does not center on a single revealed text in the way that Islam centers on the Quran or Christianity on the Bible. Its authority rests on a canon of classical works, most of them older than Confucius himself or compiled by his followers after his death. The tradition is itself hard to classify. It is variously described as a tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a theory of government, or a way of life, as Wikipedia's overview of Confucianism notes, and that range of descriptions shapes how its books are read.

Confucius did not present himself as the author of a new revelation. In the Analects he describes his role as preserving and passing on the wisdom of earlier ages:

The Master said, 'A transmitter and not a maker, believing in and loving the ancients, I venture to compare myself with our old P'ang.' (Analects 7.1, translated by James Legge)

That self-description, from the Project Gutenberg edition of Legge's Analects, explains the shape of the canon. The Five Classics are the inheritance Confucius is said to have transmitted. The Four Books record what he and his successors taught about that inheritance. Read together, they form the closest thing Confucianism has to a scripture.

What Are the Five Classics?

The Five Classics are the older layer of the canon. According to Wikipedia's article on the Four Books and Five Classics, all of these texts were written before 300 BCE. Each covers a different domain of learning.

The Classic of Poetry (Shijing). An anthology of 305 poems, divided into folk songs, ceremonial songs, and hymns. Tradition credits Confucius with editing the collection, though that attribution is traditional rather than historically confirmed.

The Book of Documents (Shujing). A collection of early speeches and documents attributed to ancient rulers and their ministers, some of which possibly date to the sixth century BCE.

The Book of Rites (Liji). A record of ancient rites and court ceremonies. Ritual propriety, or li, is a central Confucian idea, and this book describes the rites in detail. Two of its chapters later became independent works in the Four Books.

The I Ching (Book of Changes). Originally a divination manual from the Western Zhou period, roughly 1000 to 750 BCE, built around 64 hexagrams, each a stack of six broken or unbroken lines. Over time it gathered a set of philosophical commentaries called the Ten Wings. Tradition attributes the Ten Wings to Confucius, but scholars regard that attribution as historically shaky, according to Wikipedia's article on the I Ching. The I Ching became foundational to both Confucian and Taoist thought, one of several points where the two traditions share ground, as explored in Taoism vs. Confucianism.

The Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu). A terse chronicle of the state of Lu, Confucius's home state, covering the years 722 to 481 BCE. Its entries are terse, and three major commentaries later grew up around it, the best known being the Zuo Zhuan.

Was There Ever a Sixth Classic?

Yes, in name. A Classic of Music is sometimes counted as a sixth classic, but it was lost. Its absence left a gap that later scholars filled in different ways. In the twelfth century the Rites of Zhou was given the status of a classic in place of the lost Classic of Music, according to Wikipedia's article on the Chinese classics.

The canon kept growing. A larger set known as the Thirteen Classics eventually took shape, adding the three ritual classics, the three commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals, the Classic of Filial Piety, an early dictionary called the Erya, and both the Analects and the Mencius. So when someone asks how many Confucian classics there are, the honest answer depends on which list they mean: five, six, nine, or thirteen.

What Are the Four Books?

The Four Books are the later and more personal layer of the canon. Where the Five Classics preserve the world Confucius inherited, the Four Books record Confucius and his successors teaching.

The Analects (Lunyu). The best known Confucian text, a collection of sayings and short conversations between Confucius and his disciples, arranged in 20 books. Disciples compiled it after his death in 479 BCE, and scholars now hold that large portions were composed during the Warring States period, 475 to 221 BCE, with the text reaching its final form in the mid Han dynasty, according to Wikipedia's article on the Analects. Its recurring themes include ren, often translated as humaneness, li or ritual propriety, education, and the conduct of the junzi, the exemplary person. The ethics of relationship that runs through it is summarized in Confucius and the Five Relationships.

The Mencius (Mengzi). The teachings of Mencius, who lived around 371 to 289 BCE and is honored as the Second Sage, after Confucius himself. Unlike the brief sayings of the Analects, the Mencius is made up of long dialogues and arguments, many of them with the kings of rival states. Its most famous claim is that human nature is inclined toward goodness, and that moral failure comes from neglect and bad influence rather than from human nature itself.

The Great Learning (Daxue). Originally a chapter of the Book of Rites. Its ideals are attributed to Confucius and its text to his disciple Zengzi. It lays out a sequence that begins with the investigation of things and sincerity of intention and moves outward: cultivate yourself, then regulate the family, then govern the state, and finally bring peace to the world.

The Doctrine of the Mean (Zhongyong). Also originally a chapter of the Book of Rites, traditionally attributed to Zisi, the grandson of Confucius. Its title points to equilibrium, leaning neither one way nor the other, and its themes include moderation, sincerity, and propriety. It ties the full development of human nature to complete sincerity.

How Did the Four Books Become the Core of Chinese Learning?

The two layers of the canon rose to prominence at different times. The Five Classics became part of the state sponsored curriculum during the Western Han dynasty, and in the early Han the Analects was treated as secondary to them. For centuries the Classics remained the foundation of formal learning in China.

The Four Books came to the front much later, through the work of the Song dynasty scholar Zhu Xi, who lived from 1130 to 1200. Zhu Xi was the leading figure of Neo-Confucianism, and he selected the Analects, the Mencius, the Great Learning, and the Doctrine of the Mean as a general introduction to Confucian thought. His commentaries on them became the accepted interpretation.

The effect was enormous. From 1313 to 1905, Zhu Xi's commentaries on the Four Books formed the basis of the civil service examinations in China, according to Wikipedia's biography of Zhu Xi. For nearly six centuries, anyone hoping to serve in government studied these four texts closely, along with Zhu Xi's reading of them. The abolition of the examination system in 1905 marked the decline of state endorsed Confucianism, but it did not end the study of the books themselves.

Are the Confucian Classics Sacred Scripture?

It depends on what scripture means. The Confucian classics do not claim to be the words of a god dictated to a prophet. Their authority comes from antiquity, from the sages who are believed to have shaped or transmitted them, and from long use in education, ritual, and government.

At the same time, they were treated with a seriousness that resembles the way other traditions treat sacred books. They were memorized, studied with layers of commentary, and made the basis of public life for centuries. The Book of Rites gives detailed attention to ceremony, and the Doctrine of the Mean speaks of sincerity reaching its fullest development "under heaven." That mix of ritual, moral authority, and reflection on Heaven is part of why Confucianism keeps being described both as a religion and as a philosophy. Both readings start from the same books.

Where Can You Read the Four Books and Five Classics?

Several reliable translations are free online. James Legge, a Scottish missionary and translator who lived from 1815 to 1897, published The Chinese Classics in five volumes between 1861 and 1872, covering the Four Books, the Book of Documents, the Classic of Poetry, and the Spring and Autumn Annals. He later translated the I Ching and the Book of Rites for the Sacred Books of the East series, according to Wikipedia's biography of Legge. His Analects is available at Project Gutenberg, and the Chinese Text Project presents the Analects in the original Chinese alongside Legge's English, chapter by chapter, which makes it useful for comparing a translation against the source.

Legge's English is formal and occasionally dated, so many readers pair it with a modern translation once they know which passages interest them. For short readings from across the tradition, the Confucianism library on U-God offers selected books of the Analects, including the books on learning, governance, and goodness.

Which Confucian Text Should You Read First?

For most readers, the Analects is the natural starting point. Its entries are short, many are only a sentence or two, and they introduce nearly every idea the later tradition develops. The Mencius makes a good second book, because it argues at length for positions the Analects only states. The Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean are brief but dense, and they reward reading after the first two, which is roughly how Zhu Xi presented them.

The Five Classics are best approached by interest. Readers drawn to poetry will find the Classic of Poetry the most immediate. Those interested in divination, cosmology, or the overlap with Taoism will gravitate to the I Ching. The Book of Documents and the Spring and Autumn Annals are more rewarding with historical context in hand. Taken as a whole, the canon is less a single holy book than a library, which is exactly how the Confucian tradition has always used it.