Three Character Classic

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The Three-Character Classic, Trimetric Classic or even Sanzijing (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. 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 text fell into disuse during the Cultural Revolution given the State's opposition to feudal ideologies. The classic, however, continued to circulate in other parts of the Chinese-speaking world with its inclusion in the Chinese Almanac (通勝) along with several other classics such as the Thousand-Character Classic.

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.

人之初性本善性相近習相遠

People at birth,
Are naturally good.
Their natures are similar,
Their habits make them different.

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

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Editions

The most well-known and perhaps the earliest English translation of the text was completed by Herbert Giles in 1910. The translation was based on the original Song version.

The following stanzas do not appear in the Giles translation and originally appeared in Simplified Chinese. They list the dynasties that followed Song up to and including the founding of republican China. These stanzas were probably added cumulatively sometime between late 13th century and after the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Simplified Chinese	Traditional Chinese	Translation
辽于金，皆称帝	遼與金　皆稱帝
太祖兴　国大明　号洪武　都金陵	太祖興　國大明　號洪武　都金陵
迨成祖　迁燕京　十六世　至崇祯	迨成祖　遷燕京十六世　至崇禎
阉乱後　寇内讧　闯逆变　神器终	閹亂後　寇內訌　闖逆變　神器終
清顺治　据神京　至十传　宣统逊	清順治　據神京　至十傳　宣統遜
举总统　共和成　复汉土　民国兴	舉總統　共和成　復漢土　民國興
廿二史　全在兹　载治乱　知兴衰¹	廿二史　全在茲　載治亂　知興衰¹	The Twenty-two Dynastic Histories, are all embraced in the above. They contain examples of good and bad government, whence may be learnt the principles of prosperity and decay.