Six Arts

The Six Arts formed the basis of education in ancient Chinese culture. During the Zhou Dynasty (1122–256 BCE), students were required to master the "liù yì" (六艺) (Six Arts):

1. Rites
2. Music
3. Archery
4. Charioteering
5. Calligraphy
6. Mathematics

Men who excelled in these six arts were thought to have reached the state of perfection, a perfect gentleman.

The Six Arts have their roots in the Confucian philosophy. As such, Xu Gan (170–217 CE) discusses them in the Balanced Discourses.

The Six Arts concept developed during the pre-imperial period. It incorporated both military and civil components. The civil side was later associated with the Four Arts (qin playing, chess, calligraphy and painting). However, the latter was more a leisure characteristic for the late imperial time. It evidently overlaps with the Six Arts, since the qin epitomized music, the chess (Go, a board-game known by its Japanese name) related to the military strategy, while calligraphy dealt with the aesthetics of writing and the character cultivation (the rites).

Developments

The requirement of students to master the six arts parallels the Western concept of the Renaissance Man. This tradition gave much vigor to the Chinese culture until the after the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). The emphasis on the six arts also bred Confucian gentlemen who knew more than just the Four Books: Great Learning, Doctrine of the Mean, the Analects, and Mencius. The requirement for a gentleman to know mathematics gave vigor to Chinese mathematics, astronomy, and science up to the Song dynasty (960–1279). Great mathematicians, astronomers, and scientists emerged sporadically during the pre-Yuan era.

Examples of these include Zu Chongzhi (429–500) who lived in the North and South dynasty. Zu calculated the value of pi to six significant figures, the value of Jupiter's year to four significant figures, and the lunar year accurately, plus many more. Many of his feats were not repeated in the West until about a thousand years later.

Another scientist of note, Shen Kuo (1031–1095), documented many scientific findings many years before the West. Other scientists of note include Liu Hui (3rd century), Yang Hui (1238–1298), Zhu Shijie (13th century).

However, the Ming dynasty and the Qing dynasty in China lost parts of this knowledge. One can trace the disastrous loss of this knowledge to the rise of neo-Confucianism, as emphasized by Zhu Xi. Neo-Confucianism underscored the importance of the four books and of the Analects over the other arts. Also, many books that were written in the pre-Yuan era were lost due to war and destruction.

By the Qing dynasty, the Chinese court was not able to manage the lunar calendar accurately, and the calendar was going out of phase with nature. This was a great embarrassment to the Chinese court, as the adherence to the lunar calendars by the vassal states was a recognition of the sovereignty of the Chinese court over them. The Qing emperors brought in Western Jesuits to help fix the Chinese calendar, even though more than a thousand years ago, the knowledge existed in China.

See also

• Confucianism
• Neo-Confucianism
• Chinese culture