How did Confucius delete Six Classics?

1. Confucius usurped Xia Shu, Shangshu and Zhou Shu, which could be seen at that time, involving important events from Tang Yao to Qin Miaogong (Miaogong to Confucius had a hundred years), and got hundreds of articles, which were called Shangshu after the Han Dynasty. Confucius' systematic compilation and arrangement of these official proclamations is called "Confucius deleting books".

The principle of Confucius deleting books is: only one of the repeated contents is taken, and the others are not taken; He felt it unnecessary to pass it on to future generations.

As Yizhoushu, which was not selected, it was handed down from generation to generation. There are hundreds of Yizhoushu, which were not lost before Qin Shihuang, and most of them can still be read today, but Shangshu is widely circulated by Confucius as a "teaching material".

Second, Confucius deleted the Book of Songs. Confucius sorted out the Book of Songs from more than 500 poems from the early Western Zhou Dynasty to the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, including more than 3,000 official poems, aristocratic poems and folk poems.

There are 305 poems, which are divided into three parts: style, elegance and praise. The Book of Songs is catchy and easy to remember. After Qin Shihuang ordered "burning books", many people could recite them. In the Han Dynasty, there were four scholars who managed the Book of Songs: Qi, Lu, Mao and Han. When we modern people read The Book of Songs, we should focus on a version called The Biography of Shi Mao.

If there is a little distance between the preface in this biography of Mao and the original words of Confucius, then the preface of this poem is found in the bamboo slips purchased from Hong Kong by Shanghai Museum 1994, which is the original words of Confucius telling his disciples about this poem.

Third, about "ceremony". The Book of Rites we are talking about now includes three books: Zhou Li, Yi Li and Li Ji.

Zhou Li and Yi Li were written by the Duke of Zhou. Zhou Li talked about the official system of the Zhou Dynasty, and his style was parallel prose. "Yili" is about the ritual of bowing down in daily life, with a casual style. The Book of Rites was compiled by people in the Han Dynasty, but it was mainly preserved in the Warring States period, and it was some explanations about the ceremony.

Confucius traced back three generations of rituals and carefully arranged the legacy for his disciples. When he passed on the remaining Zhou Li and Yi Li to his disciples, he often elaborated on them. Confucianism in the Warring States and Han Dynasties was recorded or elaborated, and the Book of Rites was formed.

Fourthly, Jing Yue should begin with The Book of Songs. After compiling the Book of Songs, Confucius rearranged all the poems in it, "in order to combine the sounds of Shao, Wu, Ya and Ode."

The so-called music should be mainly composed of these music scores, and there should also be music scores of Shao, Wu, Ya and Song. In a word, Jing Yue was probably compiled by Confucius. As one of the Six Classics, this book is of course precious, but it was lost long before the Qin fire.

5. In his later years, Confucius was very interested in Zhouyi and often read it, which led to "Bian Wei's three wonders". Before Confucius, there were many more books like the Book of Changes than we see today. For example, Lianshan and Guizang are all books. When Confucius praised the Book of Changes, the King of Scriptures gave a special performance and became a book. Confucius also annotated the upper and lower scriptures to explain the nature of the "Ten Wings". Confucius had endless significance in the Book of Changes before his death. Sima Qian said in The Confucius' House that in his later years, "When reading, Wei made up three verses, saying,' Leave me for a few years, if so, I will be gentle.'"

Six, about Confucius' revision of the Spring and Autumn Annals. During the period of "Yi Li", Confucius also read the books of Zhou Shi (the history books of all countries should be published in Zhou Shi, so what Confucius saw included the history books of all countries) and discussed the old news of Shiji with them, which laid the foundation for him to revise Chunqiu in the future. (At that time, Zuo Qiuming, a Lu historian, went to Zhou with Confucius. He also looked through a wealth of historical books and participated in discussions about historical events.

Extended data

Six Classics: Poetry, Book, Ceremony, Change, Music, Spring and Autumn. Six meridians. It was first seen in Zhuangzi-Destiny. It refers to the six pre-Qin books compiled and taught by Confucius. The full names of these six classic works are The Book of Songs, The Book of Songs (Shangshu), The Book of Rites, The Book of Changes (Zhouyi), Jing Yue and Chunqiu.

These six ancient books were not written by Confucius, but existed long before Confucius. Confucius just did some sorting work on them.

These six ancient books, preserved from ancient times to the present, were owned by the royal family and nobles before Confucius, and were highly valued by the rulers of past dynasties. These six ancient books are included in the textbooks listed by Shen Shushi when he talked about educating the prince in "The Country is in Danger at the Beginning and the Business is in Danger".

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