Ancient China (EALC 415/ 615): Primary Sources

Book of Changes (Yijing易經 or Zhouyi 周易)
This is a divination text. The main text, is made up of the 64 hexagrams (symbols made up of six parallel lines, either solid or broken), their names and short explanations for each one. Attached to these are seven commentaries. The core text is thought to date from around the 9th century BC, the commentaries are later, some from the late Warring States period.

Book of Documents (Shangshu 尚書)
A collection of texts purported to be speeches, commands, etc. of the kings of the early dynasties – the Xia, Shang and Zhou. However, in general, the texts claiming to be from the earliest periods were almost certainly written much later, in the Warring States period. Some of the documents claiming to be from the early Zhou period are, however, considered to be authentic. There are two main versions of the text – one with 58 chapters, the other with 28. The longer version is thought to be largely a forgery produced in the 4th century AD.

Book of Songs (Shijing 詩經), the classic anthology defined by Confucius.
A collection of 305 poems (which were originally probably sung, thus the English title “Book of Songs”) dating from around the 10th to 7th centuries BC (i.e. 1000 – 600 BC). Traditionally it is said that the poems were selected and edited by Confucius. The collection is divided into four sections: the “Airs of the states” (Guofeng), the “Lesser Odes” (Xiaoya), the “Greater Odes” (Daya) and the “Elegies” (or “Hymns”) (Song). The “Airs of the states” were probably originally local folksongs from different states. Both of the “Odes” contain poems concerned with courtly subjects, and the “Elegies” (or “Hymns”) are mainly concerned with religious rites

禮記, the Rites.

中庸, On the practice of the mean; Chung yung in Wade-Giles romanization.

Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu 春秋)
A very brief year-by-year record of important events in the state of Lu, from 722 - 481 BC. [Note that the name of this text is used in chronologies for Ancient China for the period roughly corresponding to these dates, i.e. the Spring and Autumn period.]. Three commentaries are linked to this work, although the best known, the Zuo Commentary (Zuozhuan), may not, in fact, originally have been written as a commentary for this work.