He later became a pupil of Liu Zhuo (劉焯), a renowned scholar of the time, and studied the Shangshu and Du Yu's annotations of the Zuo Zhuan under his guidance.

[2][5] To reconcile the conflicting versions and traditions of the Confucian classics, in 637, Emperor Taizong sponsored a project to create a standardized compilation and interpretation of the texts.

Kong Yingda was appointed the head of the project, and he gathered a team of experts including Yan Shigu, Sima Caizhang (司马才章), Wang Gong (王恭), and Wang Yan (王琰), who spent five years to finish the project, and Emperor Taizong personally named the work Wujing Zhengyi (五經正義, "Correct Meaning of the Five Classics").

[2][5] However, their work was criticized for verbosity by other scholars including Ma Jiayun (馬嘉運), and the emperor ordered further revisions to be made.

[5] Kong Yingda died before the revision was completed, and Zhangsun Wuji was appointed to finish the work, which was finally approved in 653 by the next emperor, Gaozong.