Illuminating Chinese Classics

China Plus

“Illuminating Chinese Classics” shares with you some of the stories behind Chinese history and culture, and the Chinese language. In each short episode, we unpack the meaning of a piece of classic Chinese text, and talk about how it relates to life in China today.

  1. 19/05/2019

    ep 30 More great learning

    In this episode on the Three Character Classic (三字经), we talk about the Great Learning (大学), a wide-ranging text that talks about everything from how to manage your household and family and to the benefits of self-improvement, through to how to run a country and achieve world peace. The三字经 was written by the Song Dynasty (宋朝) scholar Wang Yinglin (王应麟). This 1,134 character text was one of the first textbooks used by students, and provided lessons on education, morality and ethics, science, literature, and history.

    27 min

  2. 19/04/2019

    ep 14 Servitiude and patriarchy

    In this episode on the Three Character Classic (三字经), the book takes a step back to a topic touched upon earlier, namely, how people should approach their relationships with different people in their lives. We’ll talk about the bond between a sovereign and their subjects, and between a father and their child. We’ll also delve into the controversial topic of the nature of the relationship between a husband and wife, and how it has changed from ancient times. The三字经 was written by the Song Dynasty (宋朝) scholar Wang Yinglin (王应麟). This 1,134 character text was one of the first textbooks used by students, and provided lessons on education, morality and ethics, science, literature, and history.

    24 min

  3. 19/04/2019

    ep 24 Defining relations

    Before we come to the end of chapter two of the Three Character Classic (三字经), we have a chunky summary of all the lessons we’ve learned about the social ties in our lives. There’s the kindness between father and son (父子恩), harmony between husband and wife (夫妇从), friendship from older brothers (兄则友), respect from younger brothers (弟则恭), the young deferring to the not-so-young (长幼序), ties of friendship (友与朋), a sovereign's esteem for their subjects (君则敬), and a subject’s loyalty for their sovereign (臣则忠). These are the 10 social obligations (此十义) that we all share (人所同). The三字经 was written by the Song Dynasty (宋朝) scholar Wang Yinglin (王应麟). This 1,134 character text was one of the first textbooks used by students, and provided lessons on education, morality and ethics, science, literature, and history.

    23 min

  4. 19/04/2019

    ep 26 The Four Books

    The four core texts (四书) on Confucianism is the topic of our next few episodes on the Three Character Classic (三字经). We get started by talking about how, if you want to become a scholar (为学者), you have to start at the beginning (必有初). After you’ve mastered the basics (小学终) you can move onto studying these four classic texts (至四书). The三字经 was written by the Song Dynasty (宋朝) scholar Wang Yinglin (王应麟). This 1,134 character text was one of the first textbooks used by students, and provided lessons on education, morality and ethics, science, literature, and history.

    26 min

  5. 19/04/2019

    ep 32 So many books

    The Three Character Classic (三字经) continues to pile on reading for its young readers, this time turning to what are called the six classics (六经), namely the the books of Poetry (诗经), Documents (书经), Changes (易经), Rites (礼记), and the Spring and Autumn Annals (春秋经). In this episode we touch on an underlying assumptions that runs through much of ancient Chinese thought. That is the idea that to be good, you need to be well-read. Being nice isn’t enough – to be a truly good person you need to have an education so you can learn what a good person is and how to become one. The三字经 was written by the Song Dynasty (宋朝) scholar Wang Yinglin (王应麟). This 1,134 character text was one of the first textbooks used by students, and provided lessons on education, morality and ethics, science, literature, and history.

    30 min

  6. 19/03/2019

    EP 17 The five building blocks of everything

    In Chinese philosophy, water (水), fire (火), wood (木), metal (金), and earth (土) are five elements that make up the properties of everything in the universe. This episode on the Three Character Classic (三字经) tells the story of the discovery of fire in ancient China. In some cultures, fire was a gift from the gods, but in the ancient Chinese story it’s a discovery of man. This is one of the ways that the centrality of man is highlighted in the Chinese view of the world. ， The三字经 was written by the Song Dynasty (宋朝) scholar Wang Yinglin (王应麟). This 1,134 character text was one of the first textbooks used by students, and provided lessons on education, morality and ethics, science, literature, and history.

    22 min

  7. 19/03/2019

    EP 33 Looking to the past to predict the future

    The first of the six classics (六经) that the Three Character Classic (三字经) recommends readers turn to is the Book of Changes (易经), which is actually made up of three books. It presents a method of fortune telling using something called the ‘eight trigrams’, which we explain during the episode. The parts of the book used for predicting the future are, let’s say, limited in their usefulness. But that is useful is the information it contains about China’s early history. The 三字经 was written by the Song Dynasty (宋朝) scholar Wang Yinglin (王应麟). This 1,134 character text was one of the first textbooks used by students, and provided lessons on education, morality and ethics, science, literature, and history.

    24 min

  8. 19/03/2019

    ep 01 In the beginning

    In our first episode of the Three Character Classic（三字经）we begin at birth. According to Chinese thought, when we come into the world, we are fundamentally good. But as we grow up, our attitudes and abilities change under the influence of our environment and education – not always for the better. The三字经 was written by the Song Dynasty (宋朝) scholar Wang Yinglin (王应麟). This 1,134 character text was one of the first textbooks used by students, and provided lessons on education, morality and ethics, science, literature, and history.

    12 min
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“Illuminating Chinese Classics” shares with you some of the stories behind Chinese history and culture, and the Chinese language. In each short episode, we unpack the meaning of a piece of classic Chinese text, and talk about how it relates to life in China today.

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