Four Books and Five Classics

The Four Books and Five Classics are authoritative books associated with Confucianism, written before 300 BCE and traditionally believed to have been written, edited or commented on by Confucius or his disciples. The Five Classics, among them the Classic of Poetry, the Book of Documents, the I Ching and the Spring and Autumn Annals, became part of the state curriculum under the Western Han dynasty. The Four Books, including the Analects and the Mencius, were selected by Zhu Xi in the Song dynasty as an introduction to Confucian thought. In the Ming and Qing dynasties they formed the core of the civil service examinations.