Five Classics - Gokyo

The five classic scriptures of "I Ching (Book of Changes), Calligraphy, Poetry, Rites, and Spring and Autumn Annals (Spring and Autumn)" were revered by Confucian scholars during the Qin and Han periods in China. "Classic" means the eternal norms of human life that provide the basic principles of politics and ethics. The addition of "music" also means "Six Arts" (Six Classics). Since Emperor Wu of Han appointed the Five Classics Doctors as scholars, these have become the fundamental scriptures of the state religion, and all are said to have been compiled or written by Confucius (Kongqiu), the founder of Confucianism. The interpretation of the contents is called the study of classics, and it flourished in the state of the Later Han Dynasty, when the "ritual" had the "Rites" (Gilai), the "Book of Rites" (Laiki), and the "Zhou Rites" (Shurai), which existed side by side, and the "Spring and Autumn Annals" had the "Zuo Zhuan" (Zaoshi Zhuan), which opposed the "Gongyang Zhuan" and "Gu Liang Zhuan", and the three commentaries (explanations) competed with each other, and many old commentaries were produced in the Han and Wei dynasties. The study of classics during the Six Dynasties, which was diverse and complicated, was nationally controlled by the "Five Classics Zhengyi", the orthodox interpretation at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, and after that, with the development of the imperial examinations (a system for civil servant recruitment by subject), it ended up restricting thought.

In the Song Dynasty, the focus of the classics shifted from the "Five Classics" to the "Four Books," but even though the "Great Encyclopedia of the Five Classics" published by Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty was compiled from a Neo-Confucian perspective, it was criticized for the lack of insight of the scholars involved, who said, "The Great Encyclopedia will be published and the study of the classics will fall apart." During the popularity of Yangmingism, which considered the classics to be "nothing more than commentaries on the mind and will ," the study of the classics was even more neglected.

The study of scriptures underwent a complete transformation with the advent of textual criticism during the Qing Dynasty, and investigation into the texts was advanced through scientific methods such as elementary learning (ancient linguistics) and textual criticism.

[Yoshiro Togawa]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、秦漢(しんかん)期の儒家が尊奉した「易(えき)・書・詩・礼・春秋(しゅんじゅう)」の5種の経典。「経」は、政治と倫理の基本原理を提供する人類生活の永遠の規範の意。「楽」を加えて六芸(りくげい)（六経(りくけい)）とも称する。漢の武帝が学官に五経博士をたてて以来、国教としての根本聖典となり、すべて儒教の開祖孔子(こうし)（孔丘(こうきゅう)）の編定ないし述作とされた。その内容解釈を経学(けいがく)といい、後漢礼教(ごかんれいきょう)国家に盛行し、「礼」は『儀礼(ぎらい)』に『礼記(らいき)』『周礼(しゅらい)』が並立して三礼(さんらい)を擁し、「春秋」は『公羊(くよう)伝』『穀梁(こくりょう)伝』に対立する『左氏(さし)伝』が加わって三伝（解説）が競い、漢魏(ぎ)の古注が多く制作された。多様で繁雑な六朝(りくちょう)期の経学は、唐初の正統解釈である『五経正義』によって国家統制されて、それ以後は科挙(かきょ)（科目別の官吏登用試験制度）の発達に伴い、思想に枠をはめる結果となった。

　宋(そう)代の新儒学は、「五経」から「四書」に経書の中心が移行するが、明(みん)の成祖(せいそ)が公布した『五経大全(たいぜん)』は朱子学的な観点から編纂(へんさん)されたにもかかわらず、従事した学者の見識の低さから「大全出(い)でて経学亡(ほろ)ぶ」と非難された。「経書は心志の注釈にすぎぬ」とみる陽明学の流行期には、いっそう経学は軽視された。

　経書の研究は、清(しん)代考証学に至って面目を一新し、小学（古代言語学）、文献批判など科学的方法による究明が進められた。

［戸川芳郎］

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