Confucian Analects, The Great Learning, The Doctrine of the Mean (Hardcover)

By Confucius and James Legge

Book Overview

Central to the study of Chinese civilization at its widest extension is the thought of the great sage K'ung, usually known in the West by the Latinized form of his name, Confucius. His works form the core of more than two thousand years of Oriental civilization, and even today, when he has been officially discarded, his thought remains important for understanding the present as well as the past. Yet Confucius is the property of not only the Orientalists: his ideas stood behind much of the rational social thought of the European Enlightenment, as great philosophers from Leibnitz on seized with delight "the perfect ethic without supernaturalism: that China offered them.
The present edition of the wisdom of Confucius is certainly the best edition ever prepared in the West. The results of many years of study in China by the great Sinologist James Legge, it contains the entire Chinese text of the Analects (or sayings) of Confucius in large, readable characters, and beneath this Legge's full translation, which has been accepted as the definitive, standard English version. The book also includes The Great Learning and The Doctrine of the Mean.
In addition to the texts and translation, a wealth of helpful material is offered to the reader: countless notes embodying textual studies, commentators' opinions, interpretation of individual characters, disputed meanings, and similar material. More than 125 pages of introduction cover the Chinese classics, the history of the texts in this volume, and the life and influence of Confucius. Most useful, too, is a complete dictionary of all the Chinese characters in the book, with meanings, grammatical comments, place locations, and similar data. Subject and name indexes enable you to find material easily.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486227464
• ISBN13: 9780486227467
• Release Date: June 1971
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 528 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.4" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Confucius with the best commentary and translation.

The only problem is that the text may be hard to follow smoothly since small amounts of translation are possible on each second page due to the commentary and original characters. But the translation is the best, and the commentary is superb. I highly recommend it!

Confucian Analects, The Great Learning & the Doctrine of the Mean

Has Chinese Language, Chinese Classics,complete dictionary of all the Chinese Characters, tremendous help in learning chinese and thoughts of K'ung (Confucious). A true collectible for me.

Excellent for Classical Chinese students

I purchased this book in an effort to begin learning Classical Chinese and to gain a greater understanding of the Analects. Not only is Legge's translation accurate and concise, but extremely faithful to the original text. Lexicon in the back is easy to use, even for a beginner. The combination of original Chinese text and English translation on each page is a wonderful help and makes parsing through a dense classical work much easier, as the constructions become more transparent. Highly recommended in every way!

Essential if you are serious about Confucius

The other reviews on this page are quite insightful; I have a few more comments:1. Modern readers tend not to be enamored of Legge's prose, but it has its own coherence and merit. What is most remarkable, however, is the accuracy of his translations, in view of their date. You may not agree with his views and interpretations; you may not like his phraseology; but he simply does not make mistakes. His translations are supported by copious (if dense) footnotes that explain the rationale behind his translating decisions. (To be sure, these notes are intended for highly informed readers.) You can never say that Legge is wrong; you can say that you prefer to read the text a different way.2. A point that no one seems to have made: one advantage of this edition is that it is one of the few available in the West with the complete Chinese text.In sum: this is a reasonably priced paperback that includes the original Chinese text and the first great Western translation of the Analects. If you are serious about Confucius, you cannot ignore this book.

the best single translation and commentary on subject

I have read the entire book for a doctoral research project. There simply is no other Author that even comes close to offering such execellent commentary on the confucian classics. He references many of the ancient and more recent Chinese commentators in his footnotes. Very comprehensive. He gives you both the Chinese original and then the English translation with the commentary translated into English. If you want to better understand the Chinese and where they come from, Legges translations of the Chinese classics is a must.Ray