The Chinese Classics

Rating:
Summary: Should be on the shelf of every scholar of China!
Review: James Legge was a 19th-century Scottish missionary to China. This is his translation of the "Four Books" and three of the "Five Classics." The translations are dated, and Legge's interpretations of the texts are often old-fashioned, but these are still important and useful translations.

Of the "Five Classics," Legge translates the Book of Documents (a collection of historical texts), the Spring and Autumn Annals (another historical work; Legge also includes his translation of the Tso Commentary on this), and the Book of Odes. (The other two of the five are the Record of Rites and the I Ching, which Legge also translated, but which are not in this collection.) The "Five Classics" have been central texts of Confucianism since about the time of Christ.

The "Four Books" are the Great Learning, the Analects of Confucius, the sayings of the later Confucian Mencius, and the Doctrine of the Mean. These texts are all quite old, but they were grouped together, and made the basis of the Confucian educational curriculum, around the 12th century A.D.

Part of what makes Legge's translations so helpful is that he includes the Chinese text, along with extensive interpretive notes, introductions, and glossaries. This can be a little overwhelming for the beginner, but it's fun to have all the information in one place.

One caution: This set is normally in 5 volumes. I assume that this edition has combined the 1st and 2nd volumes (the "Four Books") into one volume, but it is possible that this edition does not include all that I think it does.

Rating:
Summary: Should be on the shelf of every scholar of China!
Review: James Legge was a 19th-century Scottish missionary to China. This is his translation of the "Four Books" and three of the "Five Classics." The translations are dated, and Legge's interpretations of the texts are often old-fashioned, but these are still important and useful translations.

Of the "Five Classics," Legge translates the Book of Documents (a collection of historical texts), the Spring and Autumn Annals (another historical work; Legge also includes his translation of the Tso Commentary on this), and the Book of Odes. (The other two of the five are the Record of Rites and the I Ching, which Legge also translated, but which are not in this collection.) The "Five Classics" have been central texts of Confucianism since about the time of Christ.

The "Four Books" are the Great Learning, the Analects of Confucius, the sayings of the later Confucian Mencius, and the Doctrine of the Mean. These texts are all quite old, but they were grouped together, and made the basis of the Confucian educational curriculum, around the 12th century A.D.

Part of what makes Legge's translations so helpful is that he includes the Chinese text, along with extensive interpretive notes, introductions, and glossaries. This can be a little overwhelming for the beginner, but it's fun to have all the information in one place.

One caution: This set is normally in 5 volumes. I assume that this edition has combined the 1st and 2nd volumes (the "Four Books") into one volume, but it is possible that this edition does not include all that I think it does.