A Study of Classical Chinese Textbooks: A Case of Idiom “The Fight Between the Snipe and the Clam”

Abstract

This article investigated four classical Chinese textbooks which were used ubiquitously at present. The main objective was to analyze the structure of the textbooks as well as to compare the classical and modern Chinese explanations of the idiom “The Fight between the Snipe and the Clam.” The results revealed that four textbooks shared some similarities and differences in terms of the structure and the use of classical Chinese language.  In terms of the differences, it was found that the content, the content arrangement, the use of symbols in the selected textbooks were different. For example, if the focus of the textbook was on idiom, the contents about politics would be excluded. Nevertheless, these four textbooks were quite similar in terms of the structure. The classical Chinese lecturers could use these four textbooks as references when writing teaching publications or employ the results of this study as guidelines for the selection of appropriate textbooks for their courses.