Four Books and Five Classics
Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty taught his children that the key to improving their cultivation and learning more about the words and deeds of the ancestors is to read. To read books, we should read the classics, and those miscellaneous books and shallow articles are not only not beneficial, but harmful.
In China's traditional Chinese culture, the five classics of the "Four Books and Five Classics" refer to: "Book of Songs", "Book of Changes", "Book of Changes", "Book of Rites", and "Spring and Autumn".
Kangxi taught his children in the "Court Training Maxims" that the big animal hexagram in the Book of Changes, the mountains and the sky are big animals, and the sky is under the mountain. Looking at this phenomenon, the gentleman learns more about the knowledge and deeds of the sages in order to accumulate and improve his virtue. By reciting the scriptures of the saints, wisdom will be shrewd, cultivation will be profound, and virtue will be enhanced.
The Book of Changes reveals the meaning and mystery of the relationship between heaven, earth, and man;
In the Book of Shang, you can learn the experience of the emperor in handling affairs;
The Book of Songs writes about the temperament and truth between people;
The Book of Rites can learn the knowledge of etiquette and rituals;
Spring and Autumn includes the sage's evaluation and praise of facts and characters.
Learning is not about showing off your knowledge, your knowledge, your memorization, and your boasting. It's to improve one's own personal cultivation!
The above talks about the content of the "Five Classics" of traditional Chinese culture. Do you know which classics are included in the Four Books? Zhu Xi, a famous physicist in the Southern Song Dynasty, collectively referred to the "Four Books and Five Classics" as the "Four Books and Five Classics".
Kangxi said that he loved to read and study since he was a child, and although he was busy when he was old, he still couldn't let go of the book when he had spare time, and he had no major mistakes for more than 50 years, which also benefited from reading and learning.
With Kangxi's wisdom, knowledge and experience, he has a soft spot for the "Four Books and Five Classics", not only learning by himself, but also teaching his children to learn these classics of Chinese culture, which can be seen the breadth and profundity of Chinese traditional culture, which contains all aspects of knowledge and truth!