Sweat Gate

Chen MengleiJun 2024

1.8

Word count: 24K words
Chapters: 3

Summary

Traditional Chinese thought and culture have a long history and are highly original, inventive and literary. Early thought forms have distinctive features, and the content of religious theology, ancient medical texts, classical military strategy, Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism and the Hundred Schools of Thought, feng shui and metaphysics, the Twenty-Four Histories, and local customs and geography is profound and extensive. This set, the "Essence of Classic Chinese Culture Original Texts" series, preserves the appearance of the original books and focuses on preserving and transmitting traditional Chinese thought and culture. Through reading the literary essence left by ancient sages, readers can cultivate their temperament and subtly come to appreciate the Chinese classics.

Editor's review

_Han Men_ is included in the "Essence of Classic Chinese Culture Original Texts" series and presents texts of traditional thought and culture in a form that preserves the appearance of the original books, making it suitable as an introductory reader for those encountering the original Chinese classics. Its value lies in avoiding excessive modern rewriting, allowing readers to face directly the words left by ancient sages and to experience the originality and literary quality of traditional culture within the contexts of religious theology, ancient medical texts, military strategy, Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism and the Hundred Schools of Thought. It is not necessary to read it in one go; it is better to choose passages according to interest and, through the rhythm and wording of the original text, to appreciate how the ancients thought about problems. For readers who wish to cultivate their temperament and subtly draw closer to the Chinese classics, this book offers a plain and reliable entry point; for professional readers who need precise collation or in-depth research, it should be used together with authoritative critical editions.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in the original Chinese classics who wish to encounter traditional texts directly
Office workers who want to use fragmented time to recite classics and cultivate their temperament
Secondary school Chinese teachers looking for extended reading materials on traditional culture
Beginning learners taking their first steps into Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism and the Hundred Schools of Thought

Not a good fit for

Professional researchers who need precise collation and detailed annotation
Beginners who expect modern vernacular translation and sentence-by-sentence explanation
Casual readers who only want stories and entertaining content

Reading tips

First browse the table of contents and read passages by school of thought or theme according to interest; it is not necessary to read straight through.
Read a short passage of the original text at a fixed time each day, reading aloud to feel the rhythm and wording of classical Chinese.
Keep a notebook and jot down unfamiliar terms as you go, then look them up together in reference works.
Read it alongside comparable anthologies of Chinese classics to appreciate the differences in how various editions preserve the original appearance.

版权信息
古今图书集成医部全录卷二百七十八
古今图书集成医部全录卷二百七十九

FAQ

Is this book suitable for readers with no foundation in classical Chinese?

It can be read, but there is a certain threshold. The book focuses on preserving the appearance of the original and does not provide sentence-by-sentence vernacular translation. Readers with a weak foundation in classical Chinese are advised to prepare a dictionary of common classical Chinese characters or to begin with short, relatively easy passages and proceed step by step.

What exactly does "preserving the appearance of the original book" mean?

It means the editors try to maintain the textual appearance and arrangement of the original book as far as possible, reducing modern rewriting and excessive interpretation so that readers encounter the traditional text itself directly. The advantage is closeness to the original flavor; the cost is relatively high reading difficulty, requiring readers to look up difficult characters and words themselves.

Is this series suitable as a gift for elders?

It is fairly suitable. The subject matter of the Chinese classics is dignified, and an arrangement that preserves the appearance of the original books also suits many elders' reading habits. If the recipient prefers vernacular explanation or richly illustrated editions, a more popular reader should be chosen instead.

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About the author

Chen Menglei Author · China · 1651–1741

Chen Menglei (1651–1741), courtesy names Zizhen and Shengzhai, later styled the Old Man of Songhe, was a Qing dynasty scholar from Houguan, Fujian. He passed the imperial examination in the ninth year of the Kangxi reign and was appointed to the Hanlin Academy as a compiler. After 1698, by imperial order, he tutored the third prince, Yinzhii, and took the opportunity to compile a vast classified encyclopedia, the Hui Bian, using the collection of the Xieyi Hall; the Kangxi Emperor later bestowed on it the title Gujin Tushu Jicheng. The library holds more than 410 of his works, mostly sections of the officialdom chapters of that encyclopedia, covering institutions such as the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, the Imperial Observatory, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Rites, prefectural governors, the Transmission Office, and the Imperial Medical Academy. These works address ancient bureaucratic systems, ritual norms, and administrative practice. His compilations are distinguished by systematic classification and extensive citation, preserving a wealth of source materials for later generations; they are commonly categorized under culture and Eastern philosophy. As public information on his life is limited, this note confines itself to his known scholarly contributions.