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A Dedication to Classics Scholarship 33

serious attention to were food for the people, rituals and mourning for the dead, and
religious services. By considerateness, they won the heart of the people; by good faith, they
caused the people to have confidence in them; by diligence in business, what they un-
dertook prospered; by their fair and impartial dealing, the people were contented. (Gu,
2017, pp. 444–445)
Confucius held the Duke of Zhou in high esteem. “Shu Er” of The Analects
recorded Confucius’ wish to see him in his dream: “Extreme is my decay. For a
long time, I have not dreamed, as I was wont to do, that I saw the Duke of Zhou.”
(Legge, 2009, p. 83) Confucius longed to see the Duke in dreams because he had
read about him in The Book of History. He derived the idea of benevolence from
the Duke’sadvocacyof “governance by virtue.” Thus, Confucius was in awe of
the Duke for his virtue. As Confucius once remarked, “Zhou had the advantage
of viewing the two past dynasties. How complete and elegant are its regula-
tions! I follow Zhou.” (Zhang, 2010, p. 39)
Hence there should be no problem for The Book of History to be included in the
curriculum of classical studies.

1.2.3 On Music

All rituals were performed to musical accompaniment. The difference between Five
Classics and Six Classics lies in whether “music” is really lost. Opinions differ on this
issue.Musiccould nothaveexisted withouteverbeing recordedinbooks.Itsexistence
can be found in The Book of Songs and The Book of Rites. The Book of Songs contains
martialsongsforKingWu’sexpeditionagainstthedespoticZhou.Astherewasnoway
atthetimetorecord the melody,onlythe words of songs were retained while their
accompanying music scores were lost. The rituals and their performances were
collectively called ritual ceremonies. Undoubtedly, ritual performances must be
accompanied by music, which is reflected in Ba Yi (八佾)of The Analects: “The royal
dance of eight teams is performed in his courtyard.” (Xu, 2005, pp. 9–12) Music was
closely linked to rites. “Music” in The Book of Rites and “Discourse on Music” in Xunzi
are devoted to discussion of this topic. Regardless of the form, The Book of Music,if
available, should be included in the study of classics scholarship.

1.2.4 On The Book of Changes and The Spring and Autumn Annals

“Shu Er” ofThe Analects (《论语 · 述而》) contains a record of Confucius speaking of
The Book of Changes: “If some years were added to my life, I would give fifty to the
studyof the Yi, and then I might come to be without great faults.” (Legge, 2009, p. 83)
Perhaps the sentence quotedhere may be punctuated differently, but this issufficient
to confirm that Confucius had personallytalked about The Book of Changes.Thebook