Similar yet more deeply-rooted historical origins are found with regard to the Song antiquarian movement. Classical education was at the center of intellectual and cultural developments in China since the second century BCE, when the Confucian classics were canonized and sanctioned by the Han imperial court as the ultimate sources for political and moral guidance. Alongside the canonization of the Confucian classics there developed a rich tradition of commentaries the classics. Scholars of every generation since the second century CE would renew the authority of the classics by providing new interpretations of the ancient texts directly relevant to their own time. This tradition was however interrupted in the period immediately prior to the Song dynasty.
