Edited by Andrew H. Plaks, Professor of East Asian Studies and Comparative Literature, Princeton University, and Michael Nylan, Professor of History, University of California, Berkeley.
This new book series will provide English translations of seminal works from the early Chinese intellectual tradition (ca. 10th century B.C.E - 9th century C.E.). These translations will be based on the most reliable original texts; informed by recent archaeological discoveries; and executed by outstanding scholars from research universities around the world.
Each volume will feature: complete text in English and Chinese, easy-to-read Chinese/English (on facing pages) format, introduction to the text's history and significance, detailed annotation; bibliography, index; cloth binding (paper for selected volumes), electronic accessibility, and illustrated dust jacket.
Although a handful of volumes, such as The Classic of Changes (or Book of Changes; Yijing) and The Classic of Odes (or Book of Songs, or Poetry; Shijing), have been translated more than once, many gems in the broader corpus of early Chinese thought have never been translated into English at all, and some only partially. Most existing translations are now outdated. The Classics of Chinese Thought series will assemble a complete set of these texts, including the Five Classics and Four Books of the Confucian canon as well as the basic texts of all the leading schools of early Chinese thought.
As China rises in global economic and cultural stature, it is increasingly important to correct Western biases regarding world history and ignorance of classical Chinese civilization. Textbooks written for twenty-first-century students must reflect a new world order and a higher level of mutual respect and cultural understanding, in which the ancient Chinese world is accorded its place alongside that of classical Greece and Rome. Recently excavated ancient texts now make possible - for the Chinese themselves, as well as for international observers - a more accurate view of the distant Chinese past.
Volumes in development include:
Zuozhuan / Zuo Traditions (Commentary on Spring and Autumn Annals)
Hanfeizi / Master Han Fei
Zhushu jinian / Bamboo Annals
Xinshu / New Writings
Yanzi chunqiu / The Spring and Autumn Annals of Master Yan
Fayan / Model Sayings
Yijing / Classic of Changes
Chunqiu fanlu / Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn
Shujing / Classic of Documents
Lunheng / Analyses Weighed
Mengzi / Mencius
Mozi / Master Mo
Qianfulun / Discourses by a Hidden Man
Shijing / Classic of Odes
Shuoyuan / Garden of Discourse
Yantielun / Salt and Iron Debates
To support this series, please visit the Giving page of our Web site.