Four Sages


The Four Sages, Assessors, or Correlates are four eminent Chinese philosophers in the Confucian tradition. They are traditionally accounted a kind of sainthood and their spirit tablets are prominently placed in Confucian temples, two upon the east and two upon the west side of the Hall of the Great Completion.
The Four Sages are:
Within a traditional Confucian temple, Yan Hui's tablet is placed first to the east of Confucius.
The families of the descendants of the Four Sages still hold hereditary offices in the Republic of China such as 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 given to them by the Ming and Qing Emperors.