Meng-qiu (English spelling)

Japanese: 蒙求 - もうぎゅう（英語表記）Meng-qiu

A textbook for children in the Tang Dynasty, China. Written by Li Han. 3 volumes. Completed before 746. Contains 596 verses, each of which is a 4-character phrase from the biographies and anecdotes of famous people from the legendary era of Yao and Shun to the Six Dynasties. The title is based on the "Tong Meng Qiu Wo (Children's Meng, seek me)" in the Meng Gua hexagram of the Book of Changes. The rhymes change every 8th verse, making it easy to sing along like a line in a song. Later, after Xu Ziguang of the Song Dynasty added annotations, it became widely read, and was introduced to Japan and used to educate the children of aristocrats during the Heian period. It was so widely read that the proverb "The sparrows of Kangakuin sing of Meng Qiu" was created, and it was popular up until the Edo period, when many annotated books were published.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

中国，唐の児童用教科書。李瀚 (りかん) の著。3巻。天宝5 (746) 年以前成立。堯，舜の伝説上の時代から六朝時代までの著名人の伝記，逸話を1事項ごとに4字の1句にまとめ，計 596句を収めたもの。書名は『易経』の蒙卦の「童蒙求我 (童蒙，我に求む) 」に基づく。2句を1対とし8句ごとに韻を変えて，歌の文句のように口ずさみやすくしてある。のち宋の徐子光が注をつけてから広く読まれ，日本にも伝わって，平安時代に貴族の子弟の教育に用いられた。「勧学院の雀は蒙求をさえずる」という諺ができたほど広く読まれ，江戸時代にいたるまで多くの注釈本も出て流行した。

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