The Four Books and The Five Classics were the canonical¹ works of the Confucian culture in the feudal² society in ancient China.

《四书五经》是中国古代封建社会儒家的经典书籍。

The Four Books refers to The Great Learning , The Doctrine³ of the Mean , Confucian Analects and The Works of Mencius.

四书是指《论语》、《孟子》、《大学》和《中庸》；

And The Five Classics includes The Book of Poetry (also known as The Book of Songs, The Book of Odes ) , The Book of History , The Book of Rites⁴ , The Book of Changes, and The Spring and Autumn Annals .

而五经是指《诗经》，《尚书》、《礼记》、《周易》、 《春秋》。

The Five Classics got its name during the reign⁵ of Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty, and there emerged a group of scholars responsible for the interpretation⁶ of these classics.

汉武帝独尊儒术，置五经博士，专门研习五经。

The Four Books are short for The Texts and Annotations⁷ of the Pour Books, which were compiled and annotated⁸ by Zhu Xi, a Neo-Confucian scholar of the Southern Song Dynasty to establish his own theoretical system of li or Principles.

南宋时，大学者朱熹写成一本《四书章句集注》，简称《四书集注》。

Collectively called The Four Books and The Five Classics, they cover such a wide range of subjects as literature, history, philosophy, politics, economics, education,moral ethics⁹, geology, arts，science and technology，etc. and are the most important textbooks for the Confucian scholars to disseminate¹⁰ the educational thoughts of the Confucian School and a must for ancient scholars who had to pass the imperial competitive examination to become government officials.

“四书”的名称就这样流传下来; “四书五经”的内容涉及文学、史学、哲学、政治、经济、教育、伦理、道德、天文、地埋、 艺术、科技等各个方面，是儒家施行其儒学教化的重要教科书，中国古代文人科举做官的必读书。

In short, they have a far-reaching influence on the way of existence, intellectual quality, moral ethics and esthetic¹¹ values of the Chinese nation.

对中国人的民族生存方式、民族心理素质、价值观念、审美观念等都产生了深远的影响。