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A Dedication to Classics Scholarship 35

In sum, the study of the Six Classics, commenced by Confucius, was continued
over generations, with the influence reaching far and wide. In “Exhortation to
Learning” of Xunzi (《荀子 · 劝学》), it says:

The Book of History is the record of government affairs. The Book of Songs is the repository of
temperate sounds. Rituals are what differentiate correct procedures; they provide guidelines
for accurate classification. And so, learning comes to rituals and then stops, for this is deemed
the ultimate point in the pursuit of the Dao and of Virtue. When there is reverence and
refinement of rituals; balance and harmony of music; the broad content of The Book of Songs
and The Book of History; the subtleties of The Spring and Autumn Annals; everything between
Heaven and Earth is complete. (Wang, 2013, pp. 13–14)

Since they cover all subjects between Heaven and Earth, the Six Classics cannot
be ignored in classics scholarship. It is not only found in Confucian documents,
but also in Daoist texts, as in Chapter 14, “The Revolution of Heaven” of Zhuangzi
(《庄子 · 天运》):

Confucius said to Lao Dan (老子 ca. 571 B.C.E.–ca. 471 B.C.E.), “I have been studying the Six
Classics—The Book of Songs, The Book of History, The Book of Rites, The Book of Music, The
Book of Changes, and The Spring and Autumn Annals—for what I myself would consider a long
time and I know their contents thoroughly. With seventy-two rulers, all offenders against the
right, I have discoursed about the ways of the former kings, and set forth the examples (of the
dukes of Zhou and Shao), but not one of them has adopted (my views) and put them in
practice: how very difficult it is to prevail on such men, and to make clear the Dao to be
pursued.” Said the Old Master (Lao Zi): “How fortunate you are! You have not met with a ruler
who rules over the world in good order! The Six Classics are the traces left over by the former
kings. How you can say that they provide the sources of their traces? What you've just said is
like the traces. Traces are prints left over by the feet. How can you say that the traces are the
feet?” (Wang, 2012, p. 161)
It can be seen that the Six Classics served as a benchmark for observing the way of
ancient kings and sages who were able to govern both their lands and their people
with great success. In addition, the “Six Virtues” (六德) found in a chapter of the
Guodian Chu Slips (郭店楚墓竹简), turns out to be a reference to the Six Classics.

The husband conducts himself as a husband, the wife conducts herslf as a wife, the son as a
son, the monarch as a monarch, the minister as a minister. When they conduct themselves
each in their own capacities and duties,neither cases of slander nor flatteries have a chance to
arise. These can be found in The Book of Odes, The Book of History, The Book of Changes, The
Spring and Autumn Annals, as well as in rituals and music. (CBSMWUJM, 2011, p. 125)
Therefore, the significance of the Six Classics has been clearly demonstrated, and it
should be no problem to take them as the research object of classics scholarship.