Analects of Confucius - A New-Millennium Bilingual Edition [Paperback]

Confucius (Author), David H. Li (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Chinese (translation)

About the Author

Excerpted from Appendix G: About the Translator-cum-Annotator

Born in Ningbo in 1928; earned a BA from St. John's University (Shanghai) in 1949 (at age 20), an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania in 1950, and a PhD from the University of Illinois in 1953 (at age 24).

Joining the academia in 1955, he was promoted to Professor at the California State University, Fullerton, in 1963 (at age 34) and served as the Chairman of the Faculty Council. Later, he was Professor at the University of Washington, Seattle, and at the University of Texas, Dallas.

He was a Ford Foundation Visiting Professor to the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and became its Dean of the Faculty of Social Science and Commerce in 1968. He also was a Ford Foundation Visiting Professor to the Indian Institute of Mangement in Calcutta.

His 16 single-author English-language books include those written while in academia, as Director of Research of the EDP Auditing Foundation, as Associate Director of Cost Accounting Standards Board (an agency of the U. S. Congress), and as a staff member of the World Bank Group. A listing of these books is at page 366 of his "The Genealogy of Chess," published in 1998; that book was awarded a Book of the Year honor by a chess periodical.

Product Details

• Paperback: 285 pages
• Publisher: Premier Pub Co (April 28, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0963785281
• ISBN-13: 978-0963785282
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,322,479 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most valuable to those who can read both Chinese and English, June 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Analects of Confucius - A New-Millennium Bilingual Edition (Paperback)

This [Dr. Li's] rendition is most valuable to those who can read some Chinese but need English translation to fully understand the passages in Chinese. An example is the following (4.10); the passage in Chinese is rendered as follows:

The Master said: "A gentleman focuses on virtue; a common man, on land. A gentleman focuses on civic responsibilities; a common man, on gaining advantage."

With a footnote, explaining that "land" is a general reference to items of value, that passage in Chinese is fully and accurately translated into English.

This volume by Dr. Li, "The Analects of Confucius, a New-Millennium Translation," is a very worthwhile book to read.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Christmas Gift as We Enter the New Millennium, December 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Analects of Confucius - A New-Millennium Bilingual Edition (Paperback)

As the 20th century comes to an end, both scientific achievements and material abundance have reached record-high levels. But, avariance and emptiness in humans and cruelties and coarseness in the society have also produced violences rarely seen in history. The best-selling books in rcent years in the United States, in Taiwan, and in Hongkong are mainly on self-encouragement and self-improvement, reflecting the thirst for spiritual and emotional guidance by people in search of direction. For this Christmas, would you be willing to buy, for your US-raised children and grandchildren, for your fellow first-generation-immigrant friends and relatives, or even for yourself, a classical book that embodies the wisdom of life as a gift as we enter the beautiful new millennium?

David Li's the Analects of Confucius - A New-Millennium Translation, is such a book.

Graduated from St. John's University in Shanghai, well known for the command of English, Mr. Li earned an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a PhD from the University of Illinois. He was a Professor at the California State University, Fullerton; at the University of Washington, Seattle; and at the University of Texas, Dallas. He was also a Visiting Professor to the Chinese University of Hong Kong and to India.

Versed in seven or eight foreign languages, Mr. Li, prior to translating the Analects of Confucius, has published 16 English-language books single-handedly. Although he left China at age 20 and spent more than a half century abroad, Mr. Li nevertheless feels a personal responsibility for the dissimination of Chinese culture to the world. Even though a septuagenarian, Mr. Li still goes to the Library of Congress regularly to collect materials, and to Taiwan and mainland to do interviews and research. He also already published books on Xiangqi and on Mah-jong.

Although there are over 20 English translations of Confucius's Analects, what prompted Mr. Li to engage in another translation of this 2500-year-old classic?

1) age - personal experiences accumulated through 70 years of life allow him to appreciate the real meaning of the Analects.

2) facility in both Chinese and English; observance of translation standards of truthfulness, clarity, and elegance

3) avoidance of incorrect interpretation and inaccurate translation

4) exhaustive annotation - some 500 footnotes for the Analects' 515 segments, with particular emphasis on historical background and geopolitical environment likely to be unfamiliar to wester readers, and on cross-references between abstract concepts and specific applications

5) several indexes (this is a common shortcoming of reference works in Chinese; indexes in this book evidences Mr. Li's schoarlship after decades of western-style training) - including a chronology on Confucius, an index of his disciples, an index of people other than his disciples, and a subject index.

I was particularly moved by Mr. Li's dedicating this work to the Younger Generation of Chinese Ethnicity, expressing the hope that they would be proud of their cultural heritage that is second to none.

This new translation of the Analects of Confucius should not only be read by our American-raised younger generations, but should also be recommended to friends of other ethnicity, even to the first-generation immigrants who were deprived of opportunities of gaining access to Confucius's thoughts in their growing-up period, or who had misunderstood his teachings. They should all take advantage of this elegant and thoughtful bilingual volume to gain a new understanding of Confucian thought.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent work, July 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Analects of Confucius - A New-Millennium Bilingual Edition (Paperback)

Li's translation on various passages are really wonderful -- truly reflecting the traditional culture of Chinese under "Confucism" -- "li" (Conduct). In fa (Law, Legal) society (most in U.S. and contemporary transitional Taiwan}, individualities are based on legalistic conditions/situations. Personal morality and values under "li" are frequently questioned. Li's book may serve a bridge for American Chinese to discuss the disparities between "li" and "fa". Parents/teachers may use Li's book as the means for educational purposes. Good -- excellent work.

For example: "A common man will do whatever is needed to be out of poverty" (p 182). This sentence connotes "bad" value in Chinese tradition. But the conception is "good" in the American contemporary mentality. This represents a cultural and temporal diversity. In Li's book, Li did not endorse either. For this reason, Li's book is extremely valuable as an educational means.