A focus on the ritual, music, and texts of a bygone era of social harmony has been a central feature of many of the traditions now identified as Confucian, from classical studies to moral education for government service. In teaching disciples and rulers Kongzi (Confucius, 551–479 BCE) relied on songs preserved in the Classic of Odes (Shijing) and myriad forms of ceremony and etiquette believed to date back to the earliest years of the Zhou dynasty (c. 1150 to 256 BCE). Since Kongzi's time the task of preserving the culture of the ancient sages has been understood to require the transmission and interpretation of a normative set of texts and practices. While different eras used different taxonomies for the canon, from the Five Classics (wujing) to the Thirteen Classics (shisanjing) to the Four Books (sishu), a certain attitude and approach to these works was basic to the...