Architecture of Grace

Chinese Classics

The Analects, the Daodejing and the thinkers who answered them, K–12. We study them; we never preach them.

Course contents Start at the beginning
  • 17units
  • 34chapters
  • 303lessons
  • 5grade bands
A pencil drawing of an open book with a brush across it, an ink stone and a vase, and a garden pavilion behind.

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Grades K–2

3 units · 6 chapters · 39 lessons

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Unit 1

Confucius

Stories of Confucius

  1. A Boy Who Loved to Learn
  2. Teacher Kong and His Students

2 chapters · 14 lessons

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Unit 2

The Dao

Stories of Laozi and Zhuangzi

  1. The Old Master Rides West
  2. The Butterfly Dream and the Useless Tree

2 chapters · 12 lessons

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Unit 3

Values

Family, Friends and Harmony

  1. Respect at Home and the New Year
  2. Be Like Water

2 chapters · 13 lessons

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CourseWorld ReligionsThe great traditions in their own words, K–12.

Grades 3–5

4 units · 8 chapters · 71 lessons

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Unit 4

The Books

What the Classics Are

  1. The Analects: Sayings Collected by Students
  2. The Daodejing: 81 Short Chapters

2 chapters · 18 lessons

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Unit 5

Confucian Ethics

Key Teachings of Confucius

  1. Ren, Li and the Junzi
  2. Five Relationships and Mencius's Sprouts

2 chapters · 18 lessons

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Unit 6

Daoist Thought

Key Teachings of the Dao

  1. The Dao, Wu Wei and Yin-Yang
  2. Water, the Uncarved Block and Simplicity

2 chapters · 18 lessons

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Unit 7

Practice

Festivals and Everyday Life

  1. New Year, Qingming and the Mid-Autumn Moon
  2. Temples, Teachers and Chinatown

2 chapters · 17 lessons

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CourseWorld ReligionsThe great traditions in their own words, K–12.

Grades 6–8

4 units · 8 chapters · 73 lessons

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Unit 8

History

The Age of Philosophers

  1. Zhou, Spring and Autumn and the Hundred Schools
  2. Mozi, the Legalists and the Burning of the Books

2 chapters · 20 lessons

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Unit 9

Confucian Texts

The Confucian Classics

  1. Four Books and Five Classics
  2. Mencius and Xunzi: Is Human Nature Good?

2 chapters · 18 lessons

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Unit 10

Daoist Texts

The Daoist Texts

  1. Laozi, the Zhuangzi and the Guodian Bamboo
  2. Daoism as Religion: Temples, Immortals and the Canon

2 chapters · 18 lessons

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Unit 11

History and Travel

The Classics Through History

  1. Empire, Exams and Neo-Confucianism
  2. The Classics Travel West

2 chapters · 17 lessons

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Practice roomConfucianism and DaoismThe Analects and the Daodejing.Practice roomHow to read a sacred textWho wrote it, for whom and why. Cards, hints and a quiz.

Grades 9–10

3 units · 6 chapters · 60 lessons

All lessons in this band
Unit 12

The Analects

Close Reading the Analects

  1. Learning, Filial Piety and Governing by Virtue
  2. Ren, Reciprocity and the Rectification of Names

2 chapters · 20 lessons

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Unit 13

The Daodejing

Close Reading the Daodejing

  1. Naming, Opposites, Water and Emptiness
  2. The Sage Ruler and the Small State

2 chapters · 20 lessons

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Unit 14

Mencius and Zhuangzi

Mencius and Zhuangzi Close Up

  1. Mencius: The Child at the Well and the Ox
  2. Zhuangzi: Cook Ding, the Frog and the Fish

2 chapters · 20 lessons

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Practice roomConfucianism and DaoismThe Analects and the Daodejing.

Grades 11–12

3 units · 6 chapters · 60 lessons

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Unit 15

Interpretation

Interpreters Across the Centuries

  1. Commentators: Wang Bi, Zhu Xi and Wang Yangming
  2. Modern Readers: Revolution, Revival and the West

2 chapters · 20 lessons

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Unit 16

Comparison

Comparison and Debate

  1. Confucius and Laozi in Dialogue
  2. The Golden Rule and the Good Person Across Traditions

2 chapters · 20 lessons

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Unit 17

Capstone

The Classics Today, and Capstone

  1. The Classics in Translation, Art and Daily Life
  2. Capstone: A Passage, Its Readers and Your Argument

2 chapters · 20 lessons

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Practice roomConfucianism and DaoismThe Analects and the Daodejing.Practice roomOne question, many lensesEach tradition answers the same big question.Practice roomCapstone: the sources speakAsk a question. Answer it from three traditions’ texts.

Practice every day

Ten short lines a day: a reading, key words and quick questions from the Chinese classics.

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Resource libraryTrusted places to read, watch and explore, chosen for this course.
For the teacher

What the course covers

The course studies the Analects and the Daodejing, with Mencius and the Zhuangzi, as philosophy and ethics in a public school: stories of Confucius, Laozi and Zhuangzi for the youngest readers, what the classics are and their key teachings in the middle grades, the Hundred Schools and the canon’s history in 6–8, and close reading in public-domain translation in high school — as units, chapters, sections and numbered lessons, in original text at each band’s reading level. Teachings and beliefs are attributed (“Confucius taught…”, “Daoists practice…”), passages are quoted from public-domain translations or paraphrased plainly, and every lesson ends with three checks answerable from its reading.

Sources

Quotations come from public-domain translations, or are retold in plain words. A teaching is always named as someone’s: “Confucius taught…”. Everything else is original text written for this course.

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Add the band to the address, like /chinese-classics#6-8. Tap Show on the board to show a unit’s short address, big enough for the back row.

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