WU CHING

Pinyin Wu Jing (Chinese: Five Classics), five ancient Chinese books whose prestige is so great that in the fourfold classification of Chinese writings the ching (classics) are placed before shih (history), tzu (philosophy), and chi (literature). For 2,000 years these classics, all associated in some way with the name of the ancient sage Confucius (551479 BC), were invoked as norms for Chinese society, law, government, education, literature, and religion. As such, their influence is without parallel in the long history of China. Chinese students, however, do not generally attempt the Wu ching without having first studied the shorterand generally speaking less complicatedConfucian texts called Ssu shu (Four Books). In 136 BC the Han-dynasty ruler Wu-ti declared Confucianism to be the state ideology of China. Doctoral chairs (po shih) were thereupon established for the teaching of the Wu ching and continued to exist into the 20th century. In 124 BC the Wu ching were accepted by the national university as its core curriculum. Proficiency in interpreting and expounding the texts of the Wu ching became a requirement for all scholars who wanted to obtain posts in the government bureaucracy. The Wu ching collection consists of the I Ching (Classic of Changes), Shu Ching (Classic of History), Shih Ching (Classic of Poetry), Li chi (Collection of Rituals), and Ch'un-ch'iu (Spring and Autumn ).