The Kaicheng Stone Classics (開成石經) or Tang Stone Classics are a group of twelve early Chinese classic works carved on the orders of Emperor Wenzong of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

in 833–837 (Kaicheng era) as a reference document for scholars. The works recorded are: * ''

Book of Changes The ''I Ching'' or ''Yi Jing'' (, ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zho ...

'' or ''I Ching'' (易經 ''Yìjīng'') * ''

Book of Documents The ''Book of Documents'' (''Shūjīng'', earlier ''Shu King'') or ''Classic of History'', also known as the ''Shangshu'' (“Venerated Documents”), is one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature. It is a collection of rhetoric ...

'' (書經 ''Shūjīng'') * '' Book of Songs'' (詩經 ''Shījīng'') * ''

Rites of Zhou The ''Rites of Zhou'' (), originally known as "Officers of Zhou" () is a work on bureaucracy and organizational theory. It was renamed by Liu Xin to differentiate it from a chapter in the '' Book of History'' by the same name. To replace a lost ...

'' (周禮 ''Zhōulǐ'', originally part of the ''Book of Rites'') * '' Ceremonies and Rites'' (儀禮 ''Yílǐ'', originally part of the ''Book of Rites'') * ''

Book of Rites The ''Book of Rites'', also known as the ''Liji'', is a collection of texts describing the social forms, administration, and ceremonial rites of the Zhou dynasty as they were understood in the Warring States and the early Han periods. The ''Boo ...

'' (禮記 ''Lǐjì'') * '' The Commentary of Zuo'' (左傳 ''Zuǒzhuàn'') on the ''

Spring and Autumn Annals The ''Spring and Autumn Annals'' () is an ancient Chinese chronicle that has been one of the core Chinese classics since ancient times. The '' Annals'' is the official chronicle of the State of Lu, and covers a 241-year period from 722 to 481 ...

'' * '' The Commentary of Gongyang'' (公羊傳 ''Gōngyáng Zhuàn'') on the ''Spring and Autumn Annals'' * '' The Commentary of Guliang'' (穀梁傳 ''Gǔliáng Zhuàn'') on the ''Spring and Autumn Annals'' * ''

The Analects The ''Analects'' (; ; Old Chinese: '' ŋ(r)aʔ''; meaning "Selected Sayings"), also known as the ''Analects of Confucius'', the ''Sayings of Confucius'', or the ''Lun Yu'', is an ancient Chinese book composed of a large collection of sayings ...

'' (論語 ''Lúnyǔ'') * ''

Classic of Filial Piety The ''Classic of Filial Piety'', also known by its Chinese name as the ''Xiaojing'', is a Confucian classic treatise giving advice on filial piety: that is, how to behave towards a senior such as a father, an elder brother, or a ruler. The t ...

'' (孝經 ''Xiàojīng'') * ''

Erya The ''Erya'' or ''Erh-ya'' is the first surviving Chinese dictionary. Bernhard Karlgren ( 1931:49) concluded that "the major part of its glosses must reasonably date from the 3rd century BC." Title Chinese scholars interpret the first title cha ...

'' (爾雅 ''Ěryǎ'') The classics, with more than 650,000 characters engraved double-sided on 114 stone tablets, are preserved in the

Stele Forest The Stele Forest or Beilin Museum is a museum for steles and stone sculptures in Beilin District in Xi'an, Northwest China. The museum, which is housed in a former Confucian Temple, has housed a growing collection of Steles since 1087. By 194 ...

Museum in

Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqi ...

, China. Widely regarded as the world's heaviest books, these tablets are also among the most complete copies of these key documents of Chinese culture to ever have existed.

Other stone Confucian classics

CMOC Treasures of Ancient China exhibit - fragment of Xiping stone classics

The Confucian classics have been engraved on stone tablets several times. The Xiping Stone Classics or Han Stone Classics were set up at the Imperial Academy outside

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyan ...

in 175–183. Around 200,000 characters were inscribed on 46 stelae, comprising the text of the seven classics recognized at the time: the ''Book of Changes'', ''Book of Documents'', ''Book of Songs'', ''Book of Rites'', ''Spring and Autumn Annals'', ''Classic of Filial Piety'' and ''Analects''. Only a few fragments of these tablets have survived. The Zhengshi () classics in 241 recorded three classics in three scripts, but these have since disappeared. Later stone classics are Guangzheng () (944), Jiayou () (1061) and Taixue (1131). During the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...

, the ''

Mencius Mencius ( ); born Mèng Kē (); or Mèngzǐ (; 372–289 BC) was a Chinese Confucian philosopher who has often been described as the "second Sage", that is, second to Confucius himself. He is part of Confucius' fourth generation of discip ...

'' was also recognized as part of the Confucian canon, making thirteen classic works. It was also included in tablets engraved in 1789 during the reign of the

Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, born Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1735 ...

in the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

, adding a further 30,000 characters on 17 tablets. The complete set of 190 tablets containing over 630,000 characters is kept in the

Beijing Temple of Confucius Beijing Temple of Confucius () is the second-largest Confucian temple in China, after the one in Confucius's hometown of Qufu. History The Temple of Confucius in Beijing was built in 1302 during the reign of Temür (Emperor Chengzong) of the ...

.国图收藏的汉魏石经
/ref>

References

{{reflist

External links

* Chinese stone rubbings database at East Asian Center for Informatics in Humanities,

Kyoto University , mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture , established = , type = Public (National) , endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 billion USD) , faculty = 3,480 (Teaching Staff) , administrative_staff = 3,978 (Total Staff) , students = ...

Tang tablets
9th-century books 9th-century inscriptions Tang dynasty literature Chinese classic texts Chinese inscriptions Xi'an Confucianism in China Series of Chinese books