Five Confucian Classics - Hardcover

Nylan, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300081855 ISBN 13: 9780300081855

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2001

Synopsis

The Five Classics associated with Confucius formed the core curriculum in the education of Chinese literati throughout most of the imperial period. In this book Michael Nylan offers a sweeping assessment of these ancient texts and shows how their influence spread across East Asia. Nylan begins by tracing the formation of the Five Classics canon in the pre-Han and Han periods, 206 B.C. to A.D. 220, revising standard views on the topic. She assesses the impact on this canon of the invention of a rival corpus, The Four Books, in the twelfth century. She then analyses each of the Five Classics, discussing when they were written, how they were transmitted and edited in later periods, and what political, historical, and ethical themes were associated with them through the ages. Finally she deliberates on the intertwined fates of Confucius and the Five Classics over the course of the twentieth century and shows how their contents are relevant to much newer concerns.

About this title

Review:

"A critical yet informed revisionist view of the Five Classics that will receive wide attention and acclaim." -- David R. Knechtges, University of Washington

About the Author:

Michael Nylan is professor, Department of History, University of California Berkeley

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0300081855
• ISBN 13: 9780300081855
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 418