Terminology
- New Texts
- Confucian classics that were reconstructed from surviving copies and scraps. The Gongyang Zhuan and Guliang Zhuan commentaries and the Classic of Rites are called New Texts.
- Old Texts
- These alternate versions of the classics were found after the New Texts were compiled. Some came from the Confucian family manor while others were found in the imperial archives or in private collections. The Rites of Zhou and the Zuo Zhuan commentary are Old Texts.
- Forged Old Texts
- This only concerns the rediscovered version of Classic of History. During the Jin Dynasty (265–420), Méi Zé (梅賾), a minor official discovered a preface by Kong Anguo and 25 chapters that he claimed were the Old Texts. Suspicions emerged during the Song dynasty but it was not proven until Yan Ruoju circulated his thesis in the Qing dynasty. Recent archaeological recoveries of ancient classics have backed Yan. Huangfu Mi or Wang Su are suspected as the forger.
- Received Texts
- The version that has been transmitted to the present. It includes the Old Text version of Changes and Poetry, the New Text version of the Yili, a combined version of the Analects, and the New Text version of History with the 25 forged chapters.
Read more about this topic: Old Texts