Four Sages

The Four Sages, also known as Assessors or Correlates (Chinese: 四配; pinyin: Sì Pèi), are four famous Chinese thinkers in the Confucian tradition. They are highly respected and given special status, almost like sainthood, in Confucianism. The spirit tablets of the Four sages are placed in important spots in Confucian temples. Two tablets are on the east side and two are on the west side of the Hall of the Great Completion (Dacheng Dian). In these temples, Yan Hui's tablet is placed first on the east side of Confucius.

The families of the descendants of the Four Sages (四氏) still hold special hereditary offices in the Republic of China, like the Sacrificial Official to Confucius, Sacrificial Official to Mencius, Sacrificial Official to Zengzi, and Sacrificial Official to Yan Hui. They use generation poems for their names, which were given to them by the Ming and Qing Emperors.

 Four Sages 
The Four Sages within Confucianism are:
S. No.NamePortrait Courtesy name1Yan Hui101x101pxZiyuan (子渊)2Zengzi101x101pxZiyu (子輿)3Zisi101x101px4Mencius101x101px

 Generation poems 
During the Ming dynasty,  Emperor Jianwen respected Confucius and Mencius so much that he honored their families with generation poems. These generation poems were extended with the permission of the Chongzhen Emperor of the Ming dynasty, the Tongzhi Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the Ministry of Interior of the Beiyang government. The generation poems of the descendants of the Four Sages; the Kong, Meng, Yan, and Zeng families called the Four Families, 四氏 is following: 孔姓 (The Kong family, descendants of Confucius)  孟姓 (The Meng family, descendants of Mencius) 

 References 

Category:Confucianism
Category:Confucian temples