Customer Reviews

Xunzi: A Translation and Study of the Complete Works: -Vol. I, Books 1-6

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Xunzi (310-210 BC, also spelled Xun Zi or Hsun Tzu), was one of the three great Confucian philosophers; the other two were Confucius and Mencius. Many who have studied Xunzi are convinced that he was one of the greatest thinkers who ever lived. Knoblock's three-volume translation of Xunzi is very good, but it is much more than a translation. The first volume includes an extensive biography, historical background, and overview of Xunzi's thought (which is why it only includes six of Xunzi's books). Volume II includes a shorter (50 page) introduction that provides more background information. All three volumes include extensive explanatory endnotes and 2-3 appendices. There is also a lengthy preface to each chapter (book) explaining the main ideas of the chapter. This is a first-rate translation of a first-rate philosopher. Well worth the price!

Though scarcely known in the West, Xunzi occupies a place of

importance in classical Chinese philosophy comparable to that of Aristotle

in Greek thought. Standing near the end of a great tradition of philosophy,

he is a systematic figure whose works sum up, criticize, and extend

the traditional analysis of the perennial problems of Chinese philosophy.

His works encompass virtually the whole range of topics discussed by

Chinese scholars.

Like Aristotle, he molded successive ages. During the Han dynasty,

his philosophy shaped learning and scholarship not only because of the

pervasive influence of his thought but also because of his remarkable

successes as a teacher. Xunzi taught a whole generation of scholars whose

traditions of learning dominated the intellectual world of the Han dynasty.

Through the affiliation of master and student, he determined the

Han interpretation of ritual and its role in government, of the Classic of

Poetry, of the role of music, of the nature of education, and of the lessons

of history. More important still, the classical texts, understood within

the framework of his philosophy, were the source of inspiration for

countless thinkers, government officials, and scholars. Thus, his thought

was absorbed into the whole Weltanschauung that then shaped the

Chinese world, and through its incorporation into the structure of Han

dynasty institutions, it persisted for many centuries thereafter.

His influence first began to decline when Buddhism introduced alien

patterns of thinking to the Chinese world and added dimensions of

thought undeveloped during the classical period. Later in the Song dynasty,

the reemergence of Mencius as a major thinker caused Xunzi's

reputation to suffer an eclipse. Interest in him revived only during the

florescence of scholarship during the Qing dynasty. With the advent of

the modern period, and especially since the Communist Revolution, he

has again been recognized as a thinker of great importance.

The world of Xunzi, like that of Aristotle, was undergoing a rapid

and radical transformation. Aristotle witnessed irrevocable changes in

the fundamental character of the ancient world - Greek, Egyptian, and

Persian - wrought by the conquests of his student Alexander. Xunzi

saw the end of the Zhou dynasty that had ruled for more than 700 years.

He observed the annihilation of the feudal states and the unification of

the Chinese world by the invincible military power of the First Emperor

of Qin. Finally, he witnessed the emergence of a new world

order crafted by his brilliant student Li Si.

Xunzi was deeply affected by these events. They made impossible the

optimistic and idealistic views advocated by Mencius, and they molded

his philosophy in ways later generations of Chinese would find unattractive.

At the end of his life, Xunzi believed that the collapse of the world

he had known had resulted in the renunciation of all the values he

thought fundamental to civilized life. He concluded that left to follow its

course, man's nature would inevitably lead to conflict and evil and that

only through man's conscious effort is good possible. Idealists of later

centuries abhorred this doctrine and excoriated Xunzi for advocating it.

They never considered seriously the hope that his doctrine nonetheless

permitted and did not notice that he himself had never despaired that

the vision of society he shared with Confucius and Mencius could be

realized.

Xunzi's works have generally been neglected in the West. They never

enjoyed imperial patronage like the Analects and Mencius. They contain

no doctrines that could be construed to anticipate Christian doctrines like

Mo Di's "universal love." They were not written in fluent and evocative

language like the Daode jing and Zhuangzi. The Xunzi

has accordingly not proved attractive to translators. Xunzi's earnest intensity

and careful precision in argumentation led to a clear but unattractive

style. To the lay reader, his thought seems insufficiently "Chinese."

It does not intrigue with esoteric mysteries known only in the inscrutable

Orient, and it is too systematic and rigorous to allow boundless speculations

on the ultimate.

In English, there are at present only the partial translations of H. H.

Dubs and Burton Watson, which present the text with only the barest of

discussion. Both are inadequate for scholarly research. More recently,

Herman Koster translated Xunzi's complete works, again with only

brief discussion, into German. My translation attempts to rectify this

by examining virtually every available critical study in Chinese and

Japanese and taking into account recent developments in the study of

Chinese philosophy both on the mainland and in the West. My aim has

been to produce a literate English translation that conveys the full meaning

of Xunzi's philosophical arguments. My translation differs from

most recent efforts in several respects.

1. It includes substantial explanatory material identifying technical

terms, persons, and events so that the English reader is provided the same

level of information routinely provided in such Chinese and Japanese

editions of the text as Fujii Sen'ei, the Beijing University student

edition, and Liang Qixiong, for audiences much better informed

about China than are Americans.

2. It provides a detailed introduction to each book that summarizes

the philosophical points made and their relation to the thought of other

philosophers.

3. It indicates in extensive annotations, with characters when desirable,

the basis of my renderings when alternatives exist either in the

textual tradition or when the text is variously emended by important

scholars.

To present Xunzi in a fashion that is easily understood and provides

all the material necessary to grasp his argument, I have provided a general

introduction with chapters devoted to: ( I ) the biography of Xunzi

set in the history of his times, particularly as it directly affected his works;

(2) the influence he had on later times through his thought, his students,

and the institutional structure of learning in ancient China; (3) the intellectual

world in which Xunzi lived and the controversies and figures

that then thrived; and (4) the basic terms that the Chinese use to discuss

the structure and pattern of nature and the origins and ideal nature of

society.

Much of this is obvious to sinologists, but these facts are quite unknown

even to the educated, who find themselves confronted with an

impossible task in trying to locate a convenient explanation of some

mystery. Such information would doubtless be superfluous in a work on

Greek philosophy since there arc standard references in English and other

European languages that address virtually every problem that might be

encountered in Greek philosophic texts. This is not true of philosophy or

of any other discipline in China. My aim in doing this is to present an

edition useful to scholars without requiring constant reference to the

Chinese original, but providing the necessary apparatus to do so when

desired, and a translation accessible to a general, educated public interested

in Chinese philosophy.

I provide extensive historical information so that the reader will have

some sense of the setting of philosophical controversies and the historical

background they assumed. Whereas the translator of Aristotle can assume

that an educated reader knows that Alexander came after Perikles

or that the Trojan War was described in the Iliad, the educated public

recognizes only two ancient Chinese names: Confucius and Mencius.

More recently the First Emperor has become known, but it is the rare

Western reader who can place these figures in their correct chronological

order.

The reader's task is greatly complicated by the confusion created by

different systems of romanization. Distinguishing between the older

Wade-Giles system and the newer pinyin makes every name problematic

even for a devoted reader. I have chosen to adopt the pinyin because it

eliminates the constant problem posed by the apostrophes of the Wade-

Giles system, it allows people to pronounce correctly many important

names and concepts, and it is quite likely that it will become universal

during the next decade.

Xunzi's works can be divided into four groups. Books 1-6 discuss

self-cultivation, learning, and education. Books 7-16 discuss political

theory, ethics, the ideal man (the junzi or "gentleman"), and the

lessons to be drawn from history. Books 17-24 discuss problems of

knowledge, language, and logic, the fundamental nature of the world,

the significance of music and ritual, and the nature of man. Books 25-32

contain Xunzi's poetry, short passages collected together in one book,

and various anecdotes about historical events and persons. Some of these

last books have often been regarded as compilations made by his students.

I present these materials in three volumes: ( I ) General Introduction

and Books 1-6; (2) Books 7--16; and (3) Books 17-32. Materials

specific to each book and to each volume can be found in the introductions

to each book and to each volume. Thus, materials on Xunzi's interpretation

of history and his political philosophy are in the introductory

materials to Volume 2, and those on logic, epistemology, and language

are in Volume 3. Each volume contains an appendix dealing with the

problems of composition of each book, as well as a glossary defining the

more important technical terms that Xunzi uses.