Three Character Classic

Compiled during the Southern Song dynasty. The Song scholar Wang Yinglin authored the Three Character Classic for use in family schools. Its content draws from exemplary sources and encompasses a vast range of subjects, covering traditional Chinese literature, the calendar, astronomy and geography, human relations and moral duty, loyalty, filial piety, integrity and righteousness—its core thought aligning with the Confucian virtues of benevolence, righteousness, sincerity, respect, and filial devotion. After the Southern Song, it became a staple primer for children's education, and was later grouped together with the Hundred Family Surnames and the Thousand-Character Classic under the name "The Three, The Hundred, and The Thousand."