e written some parts of them. Parts of The Five Classics are from ancient times, but they were added and modified through the centuries since Confucius lived.h Books of PoetryThe Shijing contains the oldest Chinese poetry. It is a collection of more than three hundred poems, they were sometimes called songs because at that time they were sung. Many of the poems describe experiences common to all people, such as: love, work, and war. The other poems are court poems. They include praise of the founders of the Zhou dynasty and hymns used in sacrificed rites. Confucius loved to sing, so he selected the poems for the book. He urged his students to memorize them and used them in his teachings.h Book of RitesThis book consists of three separate ritual writings: The Rites of Zhou, which describes the bureaucratic system of the Zhou dynasty; The Ceremonial, which contains descriptions of the etiquette of events in the life of the aristocracy, such as: weddings, banquets, sacrifices, funerals, and archery contests; and The Liji, which describes government regulations as well as providing instructions on how to manage a household, cook, behave at a dinner party or funeral, drive a carriage, and naming a baby.The Book of Rites, as it is known today, is not one that Confucius studied himself. It contains a collection of stories and essays put together during the Han dynasty from earlier writings, this includes many stories about Confucius. They described Confucius' comments on ancient sacrifices.The Book if Rites today describes Confucius as saying: "To treat the dead as dead would show lack of love and therefore cannot be done; to treat the dead as living would show a lack of wisdom and likewise cannot be done." This describes ways of treating the deceased and law to grieve properly.h Book of HistoryThe Shujing is the source of Chinese history. This begins with the legendary emperors who brought the tools of civilization to the Chinese. This book ...
