Editing Analects (section)

=== Importance within Confucianism ===
During most of the Han period the ''Analects'' was not considered one of the principal texts of Confucianism. During the reign of [[Han Wudi]] (141–87&nbsp;BC), when the Chinese government began promoting Confucian studies, only the [[Five Classics]] were considered by the government to be canonical (''jing''). They were considered Confucian because Confucius was assumed to have partially written, edited, and/or transmitted them. The ''Analects'' was considered secondary as it was thought to be merely a collection of Confucius's oral "commentary" (''zhuan'') on the Five Classics.{{sfnp|Gardner|2003|p=7}}

The political importance and popularity of Confucius and Confucianism grew throughout the Han dynasty, and by the [[Han dynasty|Eastern Han]] the ''Analects'' was widely read by schoolchildren and anyone aspiring to literacy, and often read before the Five Classics themselves. During the Eastern Han, the heir apparent was provided a tutor specifically to teach him the ''Analects''. The growing importance of the ''Analects'' was recognized when the Five Classics was expanded to the "Seven Classics": the Five Classics plus the ''Analects'' and the ''[[Classic of Filial Piety]]'', and its status as one of the central texts of Confucianism continued to grow until the late [[Song dynasty]] (960–1279), when it was identified and promoted as one of the [[Four Books]] by Zhu Xi and generally accepted as being more insightful than the older Five Classics.{{sfnp|Gardner|2003|pp=8, 18–19}}

The writing style of the ''Analects'' also inspired future Confucian writers. For example, the [[Sui dynasty]] writer [[Wang Tong (philosopher)|Wang Tong]]'s ''Explanation of the Mean'' ({{zhi|c=中说}})<ref>[https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E4%B8%AD%E8%AA%AA Explanation on the Mean (中說)]</ref> was purposely written to emulate the style of the ''Analects'', a practice praised by the [[Ming dynasty]] philosopher [[Wang Yangming]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Ivanhoe|first=Philip|title=Readings from the Lu-Wang school of Neo-Confucianism|page=149|date=2009|publisher=Hackett Pub. Co.|location=Indianapolis|isbn=978-0872209602}}</ref>