The Kaicheng Stone Classics (開成石經) are a group of twelve early Chinese

Chinese literature

Chinese literature extends thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature fictional novels that arose during the Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese...

 classic works carved on the orders of the Tang dynasty

Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...

 Emperor Wenzong

Emperor Wenzong of Tang

Emperor Wenzong of Tang , personal name Li Ang , né Li Han , was an emperor of the Tang Dynasty of China. He reigned from 827 to 840. Emperor Wenzong was the second son of Emperor Muzong and younger brother of Emperor Jingzong...

 (Li Ang) in 833-837 as a reference document for scholars. The works include the Book of Changes

I Ching

The I Ching or "Yì Jīng" , also known as the Classic of Changes, Book of Changes and Zhouyi, is one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts...

 (I Ching); the Book of History

Classic of History

The Classic of History is a compilation of documentary records related to events in ancient history of China. It is also commonly known as the Shàngshū , or simply Shū...

; the Book of Songs

Shi Jing

The Classic of Poetry , translated variously as the Book of Songs, the Book of Odes, and often known simply as its original name The Odes, is the earliest existing collection of Chinese poems and songs. It comprises 305 poems and songs, with many range from the 10th to the 7th centuries BC...

 (Shi Jing); Account of the Rite of the Zhou Dynasty

Rites of Zhou

The Rites of Zhou , also known as Zhouguan, is one of three ancient ritual texts listed among the classics of Confucianism. It was later renamed Zhouli by Liu Xin to differentiate it from a chapter in the Classic of History which was also known as Zhouguan.Though tradition ascribed the text of the...

; Book of Ceremony; Book of Rites

Classic of Rites

The Classic of Rites , also known as the Book of Rites, Book of Customs, the Record of Rites, was one of the Chinese Five Classics of the Confucian canon. It described the social forms, governmental system, and ancient/ceremonial rites of the Zhou Dynasty...

; Zuo Qiuming

Zuo Zhuan

The Zuo Zhuan , sometimes translated as the Chronicle of Zuo or the Commentary of Zuo, is among the earliest Chinese works of narrative history and covers the period from 722 BCE to 468 BCE. It is one of the most important sources for understanding the history of the Spring and Autumn Period...

's Commentary on Spring and Autumn Annals

Spring and Autumn Annals

The Spring and Autumn Annals is the official chronicle of the State of Lu covering the period from 722 BCE to 481 BCE. It is the earliest surviving Chinese historical text to be arranged on annalistic principles. The text is extremely concise and, if all the commentaries are excluded, about 16,000...

; Gongyang's

Gongyang Zhuan

The Gōngyáng Zhuàn is a commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals and one of the classic books of ancient Chinese history. It is believed to have been written by Zi-xia disciple Gongyang Gao of the State of Qi during the Warring States Period of Chinese history...

 Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals

Spring and Autumn Annals

The Spring and Autumn Annals is the official chronicle of the State of Lu covering the period from 722 BCE to 481 BCE. It is the earliest surviving Chinese historical text to be arranged on annalistic principles. The text is extremely concise and, if all the commentaries are excluded, about 16,000...

; Guliang's Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals

Guliang Zhuan

The Gǔliáng Zhuàn is considered one of the classic books of ancient Chinese history. It is traditionally attributed to a writer with the surname of Guliang in the disciple tradition of Zi-xia , but versions of his name vary and there is no definitive way to date the text...

; the Analects of Confucius

Confucius

Confucius , literally "Master Kong", was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Period....

; the Canon of Filial Piety

Xiao Jing

Xiao Jing or Classic of Filial Piety is a Confucian classic treatise giving advice on filial piety; that is, how to behave towards a senior .-Authorship:...

and the Erya

Erya

The Erya is the oldest extant Chinese dictionary or Chinese encyclopedia. Bernhard Karlgren concluded that "the major part of its glosses must reasonably date from" the 3rd century BC....

. The classics, with more than 650,000 characters engraved double-sided on 114 stone tablets, are presently preserved in the Stele Forest

Stele Forest

The Stele Forest, or Xi'an Beilin Museum , is a museum for steles and stone sculptures which is located in Xi'an, China. Founded in 1944, it was the principal museum for Shaanxi province on the site of what was formerly an 11th century Confucius Temple...

 Museum in Xi'an

Xi'an

Xi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty...

, China. The works of Mencius

Mencius

Mencius was a Chinese philosopher who was arguably the most famous Confucian after Confucius himself.-Life:Mencius, also known by his birth name Meng Ke or Ko, was born in the State of Zou, now forming the territory of the county-level city of Zoucheng , Shandong province, only thirty kilometres ...

 totalling an additional 30,000 characters were added on a further 17 tablets in the Qing dynasty

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

, making a total of thirteen classic works. Widely regarded as the world's heaviest books, the collection is important for preserving the text of key documents of Chinese culture.

Other stone Confucian classics

The 6 other stone Confucian classics are the Xiping (熹平) (175-183)、Zhengshi (正始)(241)、Guangzheng (廣政) (944)、Jiayou (嘉祐) (1061)、Southern Song Dynasty

Song Dynasty

The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...

 (南宋) and Qianlong (乾隆)