Confucian Analects, the Great Learning & the Doctrine of the Mean

by Confucius and James Legge

Book Overview

Central to the study of Chinese civilization at its widest extension is the thought of the great sage K'ung, usually known in the West by the Latinized form of his name, Confucius. His works form the core of more than two thousand years of Oriental civilization, and even today, when he has been officially discarded, his thought remains important for understanding the present as well as the past. Yet Confucius is the property of not only the Orientalists:...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486227464
• ISBN13: 9780486227467
• Release Date: June 1971
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 528 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.4" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Confucius with the best commentary and translation.

The only problem is that the text may be hard to follow smoothly since small amounts of translation are possible on each second page due to the commentary and original characters. But the translation is the best, and the commentary is superb. I highly recommend it!

Confucian Analects, The Great Learning & the Doctrine of the Mean

Has Chinese Language, Chinese Classics,complete dictionary of all the Chinese Characters, tremendous help in learning chinese and thoughts of K'ung (Confucious). A true collectible for me.

Excellent for Classical Chinese students

I purchased this book in an effort to begin learning Classical Chinese and to gain a greater understanding of the Analects. Not only is Legge's translation accurate and concise, but extremely faithful to the original text. Lexicon in the back is easy to use, even for a beginner. The combination of original Chinese text and English translation on each page is a wonderful help and makes parsing through a dense classical work much easier, as the constructions become more transparent. Highly recommended in every way!

Essential if you are serious about Confucius

The other reviews on this page are quite insightful; I have a few more comments:1. Modern readers tend not to be enamored of Legge's prose, but it has its own coherence and merit. What is most remarkable, however, is the accuracy of his translations, in view of their date. You may not agree with his views and interpretations; you may not like his phraseology; but he simply does not make mistakes. His translations are supported by copious (if dense) footnotes that explain the rationale behind his translating decisions. (To be sure, these notes are intended for highly informed readers.) You can never say that Legge is wrong; you can say that you prefer to read the text a different way.2. A point that no one seems to have made: one advantage of this edition is that it is one of the few available in the West with the complete Chinese text.In sum: this is a reasonably priced paperback that includes the original Chinese text and the first great Western translation of the Analects. If you are serious about Confucius, you cannot ignore this book.

the best single translation and commentary on subject

I have read the entire book for a doctoral research project. There simply is no other Author that even comes close to offering such execellent commentary on the confucian classics. He references many of the ancient and more recent Chinese commentators in his footnotes. Very comprehensive. He gives you both the Chinese original and then the English translation with the commentary translated into English. If you want to better understand the Chinese and where they come from, Legges translations of the Chinese classics is a must.Ray