The Thirteen Classics (traditional Chinese: 十三經; simplified Chinese: 十三经; pinyin: Shísān Jīng) is a term for the group of thirteen classics of Confucian tradition that became the basis for the Imperial Examinations during the Song dynasty and have shaped much of East Asian culture and thought.It includes all of the Four Books and Five Classics but organizes them differently and includes the Classic of Filial Piety and Erya.
The Chinese classics or canonical texts are the works of Chinese literature authored prior to the establishment of the imperial Qin dynasty in 221 BC. Prominent examples include the Four Books and Five Classics in the Neo-Confucian tradition, themselves an abridgment of the Thirteen Classics. The Chinese classics used a form of written Chinese consciously imitated by later authors, now known as Classical Chinese. A common Chinese word for "classic" (經; 经; jīng) literally means 'warp thread', in reference to the techniques by which works of this period were bound into volumes.
Texts may include shi (史, 'histories') zi (子 'master texts'), philosophical treatises usually associated with an individual and later systematized into schools of thought but also including works on agriculture, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, divination, art criticism, and other miscellaneous writings) and ji (集 'literary works') as well as the cultivation of jing, 'essence' in Chinese medicine.
The Mencius is an anthology of conversations and anecdotes attributed to the Confucian philosopher Mencius (c. 371 – c. 289 BC). The book is one of the Chinese Thirteen Classics, and explores Mencius's views on the topics of moral and political philosophy, often as a dialogue with the ideas presented by Confucianism. The interviews and conversations are depicted as being either between Mencius and the various rulers of the Warring States period (c. 475 – 221 BC), or with his students and other contemporaries. The book documents Mencius's travel across the states, and his philosophical conversations and debates with those he meets on his journey. A number of scholars suggest that the text was not written by Mencius himself, but rather by his disciples. The text is believed to have been written during the late 4th century BC.