Three Character Classic

Three Character Classic (三字經) is one of the Chinese classic texts. It was probably written in the 13th century and attributed to Wang Yinglin (王應麟, 1223-1296) during the Song Dynasty.

The work is not one of the traditional six Confucian classics, but rather the embodiment of Confucian thought suitable for teaching young children. Until the latter part of the 19th century, it served as a child's first formal education at home in China. The text is written in triplets of characters for easy memorization. With illiteracy common for most people at the time, the oral tradition of reciting the classic ensured its popularity and survival through the centuries. With the short and simple text arranged in three-character verses, children learned many common characters, grammar structures, elements of Chinese history and the basis of Confucian morality.

The first four verses state the core credo of Confucianism as developed by Confucius' follower Mencius. The idea was enshrined in the state orthodoxy for the most part of imperial Chinese period: Human nature is good and unique.

人之初 (rén zhī chū) People at birth,

性本善 (xìng běn shàn) Are naturally good.

性相近 (xìng xiāng jìn) Their natures are similar,

習相遠 (xí xiāng yuǎn) Their habits make them different.

Even nowadays, the above two introductory quotes are very familiar to most youths in mainland China and Taiwan, if not known by heart. Though it is no longer taught at public schools, some parents still use this classic to teach their infants to pronounce words. It is an occasional elementary school game for children to and show off who can recite the most sentences from this classic.

[Language] Chinese