Scriptures - Keisho

A Confucian classic in China. A book in the section on classics from the Jingshizishu (Classical Writings). It is also simply called Jing. Its foundation is the Five Classics, consisting of the Book of Changes, Book of Writings, Poetry, Rites, and Spring and Autumn Annals. The Spring and Autumn Annals was written by Confucius (Kongqiu). All the others were edited by Confucius, and the study of classics is based on the belief that the Five Classics are the ones that can capture the hearts of ancient sages and wise men, and this is the goal of the study of classics. The word Jing is considered to be the warp threads used in weaving fabric, and is considered to be orthodox writing. The book of Chanwei, which was popular in the Later Han Dynasty, is likened to the weft threads and is called Isho (Weft Scripture), but it goes far beyond the length and breadth of threads, and the Five Classics are five eternal books, absolute books, and it is believed that the Five Classics contain all the principles necessary for human life. This awareness was established in the 1st century BC, when Emperor Wu of Han rejected the Hundred Schools of Thought and commended the Six Classics (although the Musical Classic had fallen into disuse, making it essentially the Five Classics). For the next 2,000 years, the Five Classics were considered must-read classics and a model for ethics and politics.

Furthermore, although the writing of the sutras is a simple ancient language, it is far more elegant than the vulgar writings of other scholars, and is a noble language that is "hanging together with the sun and the moon, and competing with ghosts and gods for the depths" (Preface to the Wen Xuan). This is where the principles of literature can be found. In China's oldest classification of books, the "Seven Abridgements" by Liu Xin at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, the "Analects" and "Book of Filial Piety" were treated as special works, and were included in the "Six Arts Abridgements." The same concept is expressed in the later classification into four parts, and the sutra section in the "Classics and History" and "Collection of Classics and History." During the Six Dynasties and Tang Dynasties, Chinese translations of Buddhist scriptures were called sutras, and works such as the "Tao Dao Jing" (Laozi) and the "South China True Classic" (Zhuangzi) were all highly revered. In the Song and Ming Dynasties, the Four Books, especially the Analects, were popular, while in the Qing Dynasty, the Classics were based on the Commentaries on the Thirteen Classics. There are also other ways of counting the Classics, such as the Seven Classics and Nine Classics.

[Mitsuo Kondo]

"The Establishment of the Classics by Takeo Hiraoka (1945, Zenkoku Shobo)" ▽ "Commentary on the Five Classics and the Analects" (included in the Complete Works of Kojiro Yoshikawa 21, 1975, Chikuma Shobo)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国における儒家古典。経史子集(けいしししゅう)の経部の書。単に経ともよぶ。『易』『書』『詩』『礼(れい)』『春秋』の五経(ごきょう)がその根幹をなす。『春秋』は孔子（孔丘(こうきゅう)）の述作。ほかみな孔子の刪定(さんてい)（削り定めての編集）になり、五経にこそ古代の聖人・賢人の心をとらえうると信じ、それを目標とするのが経学である。経とは織物を織るときの経糸(たていと)、正統の書との意識で、後漢(ごかん)に流行した讖緯(しんい)の書を緯糸(よこいと)に見立てて緯書(いしょ)とよぶが、糸の縦横などはるかに超えて、五経とは五つの永遠の書、絶対の書の意であり、五経のなかには人間の生活に必要な道理はすべて含まれていると意識される。そうした意識の確立は、紀元前1世紀、漢の武帝が諸子百家を退けて六経(りくけい)（『楽(がく)』は滅び実質は五経）を表彰したときにあり、以後2000年にわたって、五経は必読の古典であり、倫理と政治の規範とされた。

　また経の文章は、素朴な古代言語ではあるが、諸子の文の俗なるとは懸絶して雅であり、「日月(じつげつ)と倶(とも)に懸り、鬼神と奥(おう)を争う」（『文選』序）とまでの尊貴な言語であるとして、文学の原理がここに求められる。中国最古の図書分類、前漢末劉歆(りゅうきん)の「七略」において、『論語』『孝経』をあわせ六芸(りくげい)略を設けて別格に扱われた。のちの四部分類、経史子集における経部も同じ意識である。六朝・唐に漢訳仏典が経(きょう)とよばれたり、「道徳経(きょう)」（老子）、「南華真経(なんげしんきょう)」（荘子）などみな尊崇してのこと。宋明(そうみん)の学では四書、とくに『論語』が親しまれ、清朝(しんちょう)経学は『十三経注疏(ちゅうそ)』を学の根底とした。なお七経、九経などの数え方もある。

［近藤光男］

『平岡武夫著『経書の成立』（1945・全国書房）』▽『「『五経・論語』解説」（『吉川幸次郎全集21』所収・1975・筑摩書房）』

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