What Is The Confucian Canon?
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The Five Classics of the Confucian tradition include the Book of History (Shujing), Book of Poetry (Shijing), Book of Rites (Lijing),
Book of Changes (Yijing), and Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu). In 136 BCE Emperor Han, under the direction of the Confucian
scholar Dong Zhongshu (179-104 BCE), grouped them together to form the earliest canon of the Confucian tradition.
Pluralism Project, Harvard University
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At different times in Chinese history, Confucius (trad. 551–479 BCE) has been portrayed as a teacher, advisor, editor, philosopher,
reformer, and prophet. The name Confucius, a Latinized combination of the surname Kong 孔 with an honorific suffix “Master” (fuzi 夫子),
has also come to be used as a global metonym for different aspects of traditional East Asian society.
This association of Confucius with many of the foundational concepts and cultural practices in East Asia, and his
casting as a progenitor of “Eastern” thought in Early Modern Europe, make him arguably the most significant thinker in East Asian history.
Mark Csikszentmihalyi, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
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No other tradition has influenced China more than Confucianism.
For two millennia, the teachings of Confucius served as the foundation for civil service examinations.
The Chinese ethos is permeated with the thought of Confucius.
Roger R. Keller, Professor emeritus of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University
