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30 J. Liu and X. Tong

“regulating,”“measuring,” etc. Its usage, therefore, is found in two cases: When
referring to eternal Dao, it underscores the invariable nature, or constancy of rules;
when applied to practical affairs, the laws or rules must be adapted to the con-
ditions of time and place. In a word, jing must be “useful.” For it to be so, it must be
applicable to different things. The studies of jing, namely classics scholarship,
emphasize the practical learning of statecraft as much as the invariable knowledge
of metaphysics.

1.2 The Objects of Classics Scholarship

The objects of classics scholarship were, of course, the Confucian canonical texts.
The most frequently cited are The Thirteen Confucian Classics (十三经). However,
apart from these, books on medicine were also referred to as jing, for instance, The
Yellow Emperor’s Internal Canon of Medicine (《黄帝内经》). In addition, books on
tea were entitled jing, too. For example, The Classic of Tea (《茶经》). The studies
of Chinese classic scholarship include the Five Classics (also referred to as the Six
Classics, depending on the time frame). The Six Classics specifically refer to The
Book of Songs (《诗》 also known as The Book of Odes or The Book of Poetry), The
Book of History (《书》), The Book of Rites (《礼》), The Book of Music (《乐》),
The Book of Changes (《易》), and The Spring and Autumn Annals.

1.2.1 The Book of Odes and The Book of Rites

The Book of Songs and The Book of Rites are the core of the Six Classics. The
evidence for this claim can be found in The Analects (《论语》) of Confucius:

The Master’s frequent themes of discourse were The Book of Songs, The Book of History, and
the maintenance of The Rules of Rites. On all these he frequently discoursed. (Legge, 2009, pp.
88–89)

But what ismeant by yayan(雅言)? Two interpretations are available. One is from He
Yan (何晏 190–249), who explains it as “proper” or “formal” words (正言)(Zhang,
2010, p. 101). The other is from Zhu Xi (朱熹 1130–1200), who annotates it as “norm”
or “eternal” (常)in The Analects Variorum (《论语集注》) (Zhu, 2012, p. 97).
To sum up, the word ya (雅)in yayan could be read as an adjective to mean
“formal,” or used adverbially to mean “normally,”“always,”“regularly,” etc.
It can be ascertained that in Confucius’ view, The Book of Songs, The Book of
History,and The Book of Rites were all a “formal discourse” on decency. The Book of
Rites presents rules that are meant to be not only preached, but also practiced. Both
The Book of Songs and The Book of History are required to complement the Rites, with