Xunzi And The Six Arts Of Confucian Classics

During teaching Six Techniques of Confucian school, Xun Zi not only fulfilled the transmission of Confucianism, but also promoted the classicization of the six technique books of Confucian school.Confucius Shilun which writed in The Bamboo's letters of Chu State in the Warring State Period that collected by Shanghai Museum, has shown us that Confucius had thought of the theory of the Book of Poetry under the rule of "retelling without creating". Comparing to Confucius, the theory on poetry of Xun Zi was more perfect. He promoted the process of the classicization of the Book of Poetry.The unearthed documents of the Book of History has shown us the early course of classicization of it. On base of inheriting the achievement of classicization of the Confucian school, Xun Zi developed the theory of Confucius on the Book of History. In this way, he had accelerated the process of classicization of the Book of History.The unearthed documents of the Book of Rites has provided us the other kind of more important source about the idea on rite of Xun Zi, which is the idea on rite of the seventy Confucian scholars after Confucius. The idea on rite of Xun Zi summarized the idea of the seventy Confucian scholars, and made progress of it by improved its theory system.The unearthed documents of the Book of Music described the classicization route of the Book of Music as one of the Confucian classics:it is Confucius who integrated the music together with the education that made the fist advance of the classicization to the Book of Music; It is the seventy scholars integrated the music together with the Dao by which strengthened the philosophic feature of the Confucian theory of music so that made the second advance of the classicization to the Book of Music; It is Xun Zi integrated the music together with the technique through combining the music with the reality of the society so that made the last progress of the classicization of the book of Music. The unearthed documents of the Book of Changes has proved that the classicization of the Book of Changes should had been finished in the pre-Qin period. Xun Zi made substantiality improvement of the the classicization to the book the classicization to the Book of Changes through precisely grasping the purpose of Confucius on the book of Changes and strengthening the philosophic character by teaching it along with the direction of the thought of the Changes initiated by Confucius. Confucius had edited a textbook by choosing materials from lots of books of the kind of Spring and Autumn Annals.The unearthed documents of the kind of Spring and Autumn Annals as the silk book the affairs and discourses of the Spring and Autumn discovered from Mawangdui Han Tomb maybe is this kind of book that rediscovered today. The Book of the Spring and Autumn Annals began turning into one of the Confucian classics by Confucius using it as one of his six textbooks of the Confucian School. The contributions that Xun Zi made to the classicization of The Book of the Spring and Autumn Annals had two aspects:fist, it is Xun Xi who confirm the role of The Book of the Spring and Autumn Annals in the system of the Confucian classics; Second, Xun Zi strengthened the authority of The Book of the Spring and Autumn Annals as one of the Confucian classics by teaching and spreading it.