Chinese Literature
Tags
Summary
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers interested in the overseas translation and dissemination of classical Chinese texts
- Learners who need English excerpts of Chinese classics for comparative reading
- Students taking introductory courses in comparative literature, translation, or sinology
Not a good fit for
- Readers seeking complete Chinese annotated editions of a particular classic
- Researchers requiring rigorous scholarly collation or textual criticism
- Beginners who find English reading difficult and prefer accessible Chinese explanations
Reading tips
- First confirm the book's selections and structure, then decide which chapters to read closely, rather than spreading effort evenly across every page.
- Read key passages against the Chinese originals and note how the translator handles terminology and style.
- Record the editor's selection tendencies and consider the criteria by which the English-speaking world presents Chinese literature.
- Read alongside similar anthologies of Chinese literature in translation and compare their selections and translation styles.
About the publisher
Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.
Contents
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FAQ
Is this book the work of Mencius alone?
Can the translations in the book replace the Chinese originals?
Can I read it if my English is only average?
Comments
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About the author
Mencius (c. 372 BCE – c. 289 BCE) was a Confucian thinker of the Warring States period who inherited and developed Confucius's teachings. He held that human nature is inherently good, arguing that people are born with a sense of compassion, shame, deference, and right and wrong, and on this basis he advocated benevolent governance and the kingly way, stressing that rulers should protect and educate the people. Later generations honored him as the "Second Sage," and his thought and sayings, as recorded and compiled, became an important part of the Confucian classics, exerting a profound influence on traditional Chinese political ethics and educational ideas. One related work, titled Chinese Literature, is included in the library. Owing to limited public information, no further details of his life are given here.
