Sources of Chinese Tradition: Volume I (Unesco Collection of Representative Works. Chinese Series) [Paperback]

William Theodore De Bary (Compiler), Wing-Tsit Chan (Compiler), Burton Watson (Compiler)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1960 | ISBN-10: 0231086024 | ISBN-13: 978-0231086028 | Edition: 1st

<P>A collection of seminal primary readings on the social, intellectual, and religious traditions of China, <I>Sources of Chinese Tradition, Volume 1</I> has been widely used and praised for almost forty years as an authoritative resource for scholars and students and as a thorough and engaging introduction for general readers. Here at last is a completely revised and expanded edition of this classic sourcebook, compiled by noted China scholars Wm. Theodore de Bary and Irene Bloom. Updated to reflect recent scholarly developments, with extensive material on popular thought and religion, social roles, and women's education, this edition features new translations of more than half the works from the first edition, as well as many new selections. </P><P>Arranged chronologically, this anthology is divided into four parts, beginning at the dawn of literate Chinese civilization with the Oracle-Bone inscriptions of the late Shang dynasty (1571--1045 B.C.E.) and continuing through the end of the Ming dynasty (C.E. 1644). Each chapter has an introduction that provides useful historical context and offers interpretive strategies for understanding the readings.</P><P>The first part, The Chinese Tradition in Antiquity, considers the early development of Chinese civilization and includes selections from Confucius's <I>Analects,</I> the texts of Mencius and Laozi, as well as other key texts from the Confucian, Daoist, and Legalist schools. Part 2, The Making of a Classical Culture, focuses on Han China with readings from the <I>Classic of Changes</I> ( <I>I Jing</I>), the <I>Classic of Filiality,</I> major Han syntheses, and the great historians of the Han dynasty. The development of Buddhism, from the earliest translations from Sanskrit to the central texts of the Chan school (which became Zen in Japan), is the subject of the third section of the book. Titled Later Daoism and Mahayana Buddhism in China, this part also covers the teachings of Wang Bi, Daoist religion, and texts of the major schools of Buddhist doctrine and practice. The final part, The Confucian Revival and Neo-Confucianism, details the revival of Confucian thought in the Tang, Song, and Ming periods, with historical documents that link philosophical thought to political, social, and educational developments in late imperial China. </P><P>With annotations, a detailed chronology, glossary, and a new introduction by the editors, <I>Sources of Chinese Tradition</I> will continue to be a standard resource, guidebook, and introduction to Chinese civilization well into the twenty-first century.</P>

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This masterful compilation is the most comprehensive sourcebook of chinese civilization ever published in a Western language. -- PLA, Appearing in University Press Books Selected for Public and Secondary School Libraries

This masterful compilation is the most comprehensive sourcebook of chinese civilization ever published in a Western language. -- Review --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

<P>Wm. Theodore de Bary is John Mitchell Mason Professor Emeritus and provost emeritus of Columbia University, where he currently holds the title of Special Service Professor. He is the author of many books, including <I>Waiting for the Dawn, Message of the Mind</I>, and <I>Learning for One's Self,</I> and the editor of <I>Sources of Japanese Tradition</I> and <I>Sources of Korean Tradition</I>, as well as (with Tu Weiming) <I>Confucianism and Human Rights,</I> all published by Columbia.Irene Bloom is Wm. Theodore and Fanny de Bary and Class of 1941 Associate Professor of Asian Humanities at Columbia University, associate professor and chair of the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures at Barnard College, and program director of the Columbia University Committee on Asia and the Middle East. She is the editor and translator of <I>Knowledge Painfully Acquired: The K'un-chih chi of Lo Ch'in-shun</I> and editor, with Joshua A. Fogel, of <I>Meeting of Minds,</I> both published by Columbia.</P> --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 578 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press; 1st edition (December 1960)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231086024
• ISBN-13: 978-0231086028
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,825,397 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars all the classics and essentials, May 24, 2003

By 

Wyote (Seoul) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Sources of Chinese Tradition, Vol. 2 (Paperback)

I've read a little of this and that about Chinese history and religion, and I needed a book to fill in the basics and the details. This was perfect.

First, the selections included excerpts of almost everything I'd ever heard of: Shang Oracle Bones, the Analects of Confucius and the Confucian classics including the I Ching; Mozi; the Tao Te Ching; Zhuangzi (who famously dreamed that he was a butterfly); Mencius; Xunzi; the Zuozhuan; Sun Tzu's art of war; all kinds of stuff about Chinese schools of Buddhism including the Lotus Sutra and the Flower Garden Sutra and the history of Guanyin and Wutai Shan; Li Po (Li Bo) and Tu Fu (Du Fu); and neo-Confucianism (which was so influential in Korea). In short, this is really, practically the "Eatern Canon" and the selections are deserving of such a label. I was in turns morally and intellectually challenged, uplifted, informed and surprised; but rarely bored and never disappointed.

Second, the introductory essays were exactly what I wanted to know: who might have written it, and when, and who read, and what it meant to them. For all that information, they were still brief and the bibliography was sufficient to help me chase the points that left me curious. An important thing these essays did was to cover the political, historical and social backgrounds (and foregrounds) of the texts, so I learned about Chinese history as well as literature and religion. If that is what you want to do, this book will serve you well.

The binding is excellent, and while the price might look steep I have to say it's a bargain considering what you get.

I didn't read Volume Two, and so I don't know if it is as good. It is certainly a lot smaller!

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ancient Chinese History: Vol. 1, April 1, 2004

By 

Erika Mitchell (E. Calais, VT USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sources of Chinese Tradition: Volume I (Unesco Collection of Representative Works. Chinese Series) (Paperback)

This book is a collection of readings dealing with ancient Chinese history, especially focusing on philosophy and religion. The readings are organized into chapters related to various stages in Chinese history. Early chapters cover antiquity, Confucius, Mo Tzu, and Taoism. Then comes Confucian tradition, the Legalists, the Imperial Order, the Universal Order, and the Economic Order. This is followed by the Great Han Historians, Neo-Taoism, and Buddhism. This volume is rounded out with the Confucian revival and neo-Confucianism. Each chapter begins with a short introduction essay that introduces the context and events of the time and goes to a selection of original texts on the topic at hand. At the beginning of the book is a chronological table of Chinese history from 2852 BC to 1849 AD that highlights various events in Chinese political philosophy.

This book is a great resource for the serious student of Chinese philosophy and culture. The essays and readings provide a unique window into Chinese thought. The authors assume that the reader will have a basic familiarity with the overall picture of Chinese history, and provide many details and insights into why history took the course that it did. I found the reading selections, drawn from such documents as the Analects of Confucius or historical documents like Ma tuan-Lin's Introduction to the Survey on the Land Tax, particularly illuminating. To find so many documents such as these presented in English, together with essays that explain their context and importance, is invaluable for the serious Asian studies scholar.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Method for Understanding China, April 12, 2008

By 

Daniel Layton - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sources of Chinese Tradition, Vol. 2 (Paperback)

This work is thorough, but at the same time simple and concise. It is essentially a collection of documents that relate to important events in Chinese history with short background sections introducing most works and longer introductions when a new period of history is covered. I believe that this is currently the most complete single volume on the market as it runs from the early 1600's all the way up to 1989, covering the Qing Dynasty, its collapse, the Nationalist Revolution and later the Communist Revolution, up through the ideas behind the Tienanmen Square demonstrations and the modern reevaluation of Confucianism. If you only want one volume on modern Chinese history that focuses on the sources, I think this is probably the one to have.