A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (Princeton Paperbacks) - Softcover

Chan, W

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0691019649 ISBN 13: 9780691019642

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 1992

Synopsis

A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy is a milestone along the complex and difficult road to significant understanding by Westerners of the Asian peoples and a monumental contribution to the cause of philosophy. It is the first anthology of Chinese philosophy to cover its entire historical development. It provides substantial selections from all the great thinkers and schools in every period--ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary--and includes in their entirety some of the most important classical texts. It deals with the fundamental and technical as well as the more general aspects of Chinese thought. With its new translation of source materials (some translated for the first time), its explanatory aids where necessary, its thoroughgoing scholarly documentation, this volume will be an indispensable guide for scholars, for college students, for serious readers interested in knowing the real China.

About this title

Review:

"[E]normous chunks of the philosophers, and the commentary reduced to the essential minimum. Mr Chan's theme is Chinese humanism, because this is the unavoidable theme of Chinese philosophy in nearly all ages. Heroically he has translated his philosophers himself, with the result that for the first time the entire map is seen through a consistent eye. 'Source Book': no. Please look on it instead as a massive and superb anthology."---Robert Payne, Saturday Review

"[Mr. Chan's] brilliant scholarship has enabled him to strike a balance between modern, medieval and ancient periods as well as between Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, and for the first time a leading Chinese scholar has carefully weighed the influences and importance's as well as the themes of many of the Chinese philosophers."---John Coombes, Columbus Enquirer

"[T]he Neo-Confucian translations in particular are the most reliable yet made, and show a familiarity with classical allusions, early colloquial idiom and the turns of Neo-Confucian thought which no Western translator can hope to emulate."---A. C. Graham, Journal of the American Oriental Society

"[T]he volume is virtually an encyclopedia."--Journal of Bible and Religion

From the Back Cover:

This Source Book is devoted to the purpose of providing such a basis for genuine understanding of Chinese thought (and thereby of Chinese life and culture, since the relationship between the two is probably more pronounced in China than in any other country).

About this edition

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0691019649
• ISBN 13: 9780691019642
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 888