Traditional Chinese 樂經 Hanyu Pinyin IPA [ɥê.tɕíŋ] | Simplified Chinese 乐经 Wade–Giles Yüeh-ching Yale Romanization Ngohk-gīng | |
Similar Spring and Autumn Annals, Rites of Zhou, Book of Rites, Great Learning, Book of Documents | ||
The Classic of Music (Chinese: 樂經; pinyin: Yuè jīng) was a Confucian classic text lost by the time of the Han dynasty. It is sometimes referred to as the "Sixth Classic" (for example, by Sima Qian ) and is thought to have been important in the traditional interpretations of the Book of Songs.
Qing dynasty scholar Shao Yichen (邵懿辰, 1810-1861) proposed that the book never existed, but more usually it is thought that all copies were destroyed during the burning of books and burying of scholars.
A few traces remain in other surviving works, including the Zuo Zhuan, the Rites of Zhou, and the extremely redacted, poor-quality Record of Music contained in the Classic of Rites. As accounted in the Book of Han, Dou Gong 竇公 (5-4 cc. BC), a musician of the state of Wei possessed a book Yue shu which was presented to Han Wen-di. However, the text is associated with the Da siyue section of the Zhou li (大宗伯 part).