Enhancing the Splendor of Classical Texts

From early times, Daoist writers claimed to receive scriptures via revelation from heavenly beings. In numerous cases, these writings were composed over the course of many nights and by different mediums. New revelations were often hastily appended, and the resulting unevenness gave rise to the impression that Daoist texts often appear slapdash and contain contradictions. A Library of Clouds focuses on the rewriting of Daoist scriptures in the Upper Clarity (Shangqing) lineage in fourth- and fifth-century China. Scholarship on Upper Clarity Daoism has been dominated by attempts to uncover “original” or “authentic” texts, which has resulted in the neglect of later scriptures— including the work fully translated and annotated here, the Scripture of the Immaculate Numen, one of the Three Wonders (sanqi) and among the most prized Daoist texts in medieval China. The scripture’s lack of a coherent structure and its different authorial voices have led many to see it not as a unified work but

The English edition of Liu Lihong’s milestone work is a sublime beacon for the profession of Chinese medicine in the 21st century. Classical Chinese Medicine delivers a straightforward critique of the politically motivated “integration” of traditional Chinese wisdom with Western science during the last sixty years, and represents an ardent appeal for the recognition of Chinese medicine as a science in its own right. Professor Liu’s candid presentation has made this book a bestseller in China, treasured not only by medical students and doctors, but by vast numbers of non-professionals who long for a state of health and well-being that is founded in a deeper sense of cultural identity. Oriental medicine education has made great strides in the West since the 1970s, but clear guidelines regarding the “traditional” nature of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) remain undefined. Classical Chinese Medicine not only delineates the educational and clinical problems faced by the profession in bo

In The Heart Sūtra: Revisiting Its Texts, History, and Meaning, Henry C. H. Shiu investigates the historical origins of the Heart Sūtra, a significant Buddhist scripture. He compares the Sanskrit texts with their Chinese and Tibetan translations to analyse whether the Heart Sūtra might be a Chinese apocryphon, through detailed linguistic examination. To achieve this goal, Shiu thoroughly examines the primary sources from which the scripture was extracted. He emphasises the necessity of reading the Heart Sūtra in the larger context of the Perfection of Wisdom literature, which contains the essence of Mahāyāna Buddhist teaching. In this monograph, Shiu successfully transcends the boundaries between the Chinese, Indian and Tibetan Buddhist traditions and provides a revisionist interpretation of the Heart Sūtra.

In Kunqu: A Classical Opera of Twenty-First-Century China, Joseph S. C. Lam offers a holistic and interdisciplinary view on kunqu, a 600-year-old genre of Chinese opera that is being fashionably performed inside and outside of China. He explains how and why the genre charms and signifies Chinese culture, history, and personhood. As the first comprehensive and scholarly book on kunqu written in English, the book not only discusses the genre in cultural and historical terms but also analyzes its shows as performative, cultural, social, and political communications. It approaches the genre from several perspectives, ranging from those of performers and producers to those of casual audience, dedicated connoisseurs, and scholarly critics. Lam also employs a judicious blend of Chinese and international theories and methods. Through this comprehensive study of kunqu, Lam has established the significance of the genre not only in the sphere of Chinese music, but also among the cultural heritage

Utopia and Utopianism in the Contemporary Chinese Context: Texts, Ideas, Spaces decisively demonstrates the extent to which utopianism has shaped political thought, cultural imaginaries, and social engagement after it was introduced into the Chinese context in the nineteenth century. In fact, pursuit of utopia has often led to action—such as the Chinese Revolution and the Umbrella Movement—and contested consequences. Covering a time span that goes from the late Qing to our days, the authors show that few ideas have been as influencing as utopia, which has compellingly shaped the imaginaries that underpin China’s historical change. Utopianism contributed to the formation of the Chinese state itself—shaping the thought of key figures of the late Qing and early Republican eras such as Kang Youwei and Sun Yat-sen—and outlived the labyrinthine debates of the second half of the twentieth century, both under Mao’s rule and during the post-socialist era. Even in the current times of dystopian

Tang Chun-I Lecture Series The Tang Chun-I Lecture Series is based on lectures and seminars delivered by distinguished scholars who are holding the Tang Chun-I Visiting Professorship at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. This professorship was initiated in 2003 by the Department of Philosophy, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, in memory of the late Professor Tang Chun-I (1909-1978), a major figure in 20th century Chinese philosophy and the first Chair Professor of the Department of Philosophy. In Res Publica, Günter Zöller offers a concise and perceptive analysis of the influence that Plato’s Pepublic had on the political thought of three leading German philosophers rarely discussed together—Kant, Hegel and Fichte. He investigates how these three thinkers engaged with one of the founding texts of Western political philosophy to offer their particular interpretations of the forms and norms of the political organization known as the "commonwealth" or res publica. Professor Zöller c

《常春藤解析英語雜誌》培養升學．英語檢定．進修實力　/　詞彙程度約 4000～7000字　/　國內幾乎高中生人手一本的《常春藤解析英語雜誌》由賴世雄教授於一九八八年七月發行創刊號， 是一份製作嚴謹的專業英語廣播月刊。一直不斷在品質上力求精進及掌握學界脈動與讀者需求，多年來深獲全台英文老師的口碑肯定，並為多所高中指定之英文課外教材，更是無數青年學子心目中的第 一品牌！長期訂閱戰勝108課綱，輕鬆提升核心素養，每天只要30分鐘，學測、英檢、多益統統難不倒你！ July 2026 Welcome to the July issue of Analytical English. This month features stories that cover Australia, the smallest continent, and Madagascar, one of the world's largest islands. First, let's take a trip to “The Hotel That Lived on the Reef” and learn about a doomed venture on the Great Barrier Reef. It turns out that novelty alone isn't enough to hold people's interest throughout a trip. Next, you can learn about a recently discovered species on the island of Madagascar in “How Tiny Is This Chameleon? Bring Me a Magnifying Glass!” Then, leave the natural world behind and consider the benefits of adding classical music to your workout routine with “When Classical Music Meets Exercise.” You might just find the motivation you've been looking for. La

The rulers of the Ming dynasty enacted paradigms of hierarchical order. Like imperial families, households, and courts in earlier Chinese dynasties, they articulated patriarchal, patrilineal, and patrilocal organizational principles as exemplars for families and institutions throughout the empire. Women made indispensable contributions to the development of these paradigms and principles and to the social, cultural, and political fabric of the family and the state. And yet, in the existing literature in Chinese and English women are often burdened with stereotypes, positioned as peripheral, or rendered almost invisible. Reading available texts “against the grain,” and drawing on a trove of evidence from material culture, Soulliere shows how women defined a place for themselves in the multigenerational Ming imperial family, imperial household, and court. The Empress and the Dragon Throne spans the first Ming century from just before the founding of the dynasty in 1368 to the end of the

◎線條＋符號＋顏色，多種抽象概念的新詮釋。 Line + symbols + colors, new interpretations of multiple abstract concepts. ◎跳過望文生義可能產生的歧解，以最簡單的形式進行最直觀的哲學演繹。 Avoid ambiguity that literal interpretations may lead to, directly interpret philosophies with the simplest methods. 你可曾想過用簡單的筆劃與顏色勾勒物質世界的抽象概念？ 打破現實形式的框架，以冥想、意象、解構，重新簡約而寧靜的感受世界！ 作者以簡單的線條、圖象、文字與顏色演繹二維、三維、四維的種種抽象概念， 藉著解構每幅創作的線條勾勒與組合，可以感受作者解讀物質世界的獨特角度， 是一部意識流動強烈的藝術、哲學創作集。 Have you ever thought about drawing abstract concepts with simply strokes and colors? Break the framework of reality, and feel the world with meditation, imagery, deconstruction, new definitions in peace! The author presents abstract 2-dimensional, 3-dimentional, and 4-dimensional concepts with simple lines, images, texts and colors. By deconstructing the lines and combinations of every creation, you may experience the author’s unique point of view to make sense of the material collection of artistic and philosophical creations of strong consciousness.

詩詞，是心靈的音符 青花，是瓷器的水墨 白地青花，間裝五色，為今古之冠。 ──明．沈德符 作者以深厚的文化底蘊，帶領讀者走入詩詞與瓷藝交織的璀璨世界，解讀各式不同青花瓷的紋飾和造型。其中有貫穿古今的典故、東西文化的交會、伊斯蘭樣式的影響、歷史源流的演變，詩詞故事的敘說、獻禮祭祀的用器、佛教寶相花紋的隱喻、密教梵文的種子字、《易經》的天地之數等，埋藏其中的深意不一而足，值得細細品味思索。在逐步的推敲琢磨中，漸漸領略青花的詩意、藝術與風采，滿目繽紛而美不勝收。 《青花宴》以詩意的筆觸賞析青花瓷的風華，六章如六道風景，各自鋪陳稀世珍品、瑞獸花鳥、歲月流光，串聯古詩意境與瓷器紋飾，讓讀者在閱讀中與千年前的工匠與詩人對話。這不僅是一本談青花瓷的書，更是一場穿越時間的文化盛宴。 Step into a luminous world where poetry meets porcelain. This elegant volume invites readers on a lyrical journey through the Ming dynasty`s finest blue and white ceramics—each chapter titled after a classical Chinese poem and interpreted through the lens of verse. With refined scholarship and poetic sensitivity, the author unveils how the spirit of ancient poems echoes in the form, motif, and glaze of porcelain masterpieces. A banquet of beauty and meaning awaits—where every vessel tells a story, and every poem reveals a hidden glaze of time. 本書特色 ◎瓷器的收藏，作者認為不僅在於鑑識是否為到代的真品，還在於藝術上是否有可取之處、是否在器用之外別具詩意。一如徐悲鴻所言：「寧買假而似真，不買真而似假。」因此，更值得品味的，是青花瓷上展現的意境

This book features five theme-based units on cross-disciplinary academic English skills, focusing on the needs of first-year undergraduate students. Each unit covers academic writing, reading, and speaking skills. The units progressively take students through the steps needed to complete three common academic assignments: the essay, report, and tutorial discussion. These steps include searching for quality sources, note-taking, establishing a critical stance, formulating evidence-based arguments, synthesizing information from multiple sources, and structuring academic texts. Each unit also provides opportunities for students to analyse texts, apply their critical thinking skills, practise what they have learnt in productive tasks, and reflect upon their progress. This book is aimed at first-time university students. Many of the readings are related to China and a broader Asian context. As such, it appeals to first-year university students in Hong Kong, Mainland China, and Taiwan.

This book is the second in a two-volume monograph on the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts. Looted in 1942 from the Warring States-period Chu tomb at Zidanku, Changsha, the manuscripts date to the turn from the 4th to the 3rd centuries BCE and are the only pre-Imperial Chinese manuscripts on silk found to-date. The monograph represents the culmination of almost four decades of research by Professor Li Ling of Peking University. Volume One addresses the circumstances of the discovery of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts and the subsequent provenance history in China and the United States. Volume Two provides the first complete transcription of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts in their entirety together with reproductions of the original manuscripts. The transcription is accompanied by comprehensive annotations, with full paleographic and philological analysis of the texts. An English translation of the texts has been added by Professor Donald Harper. For the first time, the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts can

COUPLET PAIR REBUS explores the principle of cause and effect in art, offering various approaches to this philosophical relationship. Based on the UMAG exhibition curated by Harald Kraemer, the COUPLET section is comprised of more than twenty calligraphic pairs of poetic lines, known in Chinese as duilian (對聯). Through the multi-layered texts, one discovers the multitude of voices that can be used to describe nature and the world and how content can be visualised through various forms of calligraphy. PAIR features artworks that form a balanced equilibrium through diverse visual languages along with objects that exemplify how mankind’s pursuits create objects in symmetrical harmony across genres. While works presented in the REBUS section form a network of diverse references that connect the objects. Individuals are then tasked with decoding these connections like a 3D puzzle. This publication features an essay by curator Harald Kraemer unpacking the issues of harmony, symmetry and c

This book embarks on a thorough review of Eastern and Western philosophies of propriety over the past 2,500 years, followed by an investigation of the ideas of propriety found in five key schools of economics: classical, neoclassical, institutional, behavioral, and cultural economics. The author then outlines the core principles and recommended practices for the study and implementation of propriety economics in the future. With its unique mixture of theory, literature reviews, methods, and case studies, this book will be useful not only to economic scholars, but also historians, policy makers, and any reader with an interest in making the economy work better for the benefit of all humankind.

Psychosis and Schizophrenia in Hong Kong covers some of the most serious mental health conditions that top the global disease burden and affect 3 per cent of the general population. However, most research on psychotic disorders is undertaken in the West, and few studies have been systematically carried out in Asia despite global interest in regional differences. This work offers a unique and coherent account of these disorders and their treatment in Hong Kong over the last thirty years. Chen and his research programme’s pioneering work has ranged from the impact of early intervention on outcomes and relapse prevention, to the renaming of psychosis to reduce stigma. The studies have contributed to wider international debates on the optimal management of the condition. Their investigations in semantics and cognition, as well as cognition-enhancing exercise interventions, have provided novel insights into deficits encountered in psychotic disorders and how they might be ameliorated. The

This book is devoted to the systematic presentation of the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) and is the most comprehensive book in the classical TRIZ and beyond. It details methods for formulating non-standard problems and various ways to solve them, etc. The book is illustrated by many examples, problems, and graphical material (approximately 300 examples and problems, and approximately 400 illustrations). It describes more than 300 concepts. Materials for independent work is provided at the end of each chapter. Some reference solutions are included. The book is intended for students of engineering disciplines who would like to have in-depth understanding of. It can also be useful for engineers and inventors, scientists, university professors, and those who solve creative problems. Professor and TRIZ Master Vladimir Petrov, is one of the most authoritative students and best friends of the Father of TRIZ, Genrich S. Altshuller. Since 1972, TRIZ Master Vladimir Petrov often con

How do public markets, as ordinary as they seem, carry the weight of a city’s history? How do such everyday buildings reflect a city’s changing political, social, and economic needs, through their yearslong transformations in forms, functions, and management? Integrating architecture and history, this book invites readers to go through the growth and governance of colonial Hong Kong by tracing the past and present of public markets as a study of extensive firsthand historical materials. As the readers witness the changes in Hong Kong markets from hawker pitches to classical market halls to clean modernist municipal complexes, the book offers a new perspective of understanding the familiar everyday markets with historical contexts possibly unfamiliar to most, studying markets as a microcosm of the city and a capsule of its history. This book is a robust and in-depth study of the market building history of Hong Kong since the 1840s and contributes to a holistic understanding of everyday

Grounded in a desire to bring back to life rare items from the University of Hong Kong’s Fung Ping Shan Library that are entwined within the world of music and to place them in a context of books and images in American, British, and other Asian collections, Chinese Music in Print views the library as a repository not of information but of artifact, and then uses these artifacts as a means for generating scholarly narrative. It begins by assessing seminal texts in the Confucian canon set against the delicacy of the concubine and amanuensis Shen Cai’s calligraphy and poetry. Confucianism was itself a crucial aspect of courtly life, and an exploration of its ritual is the book’s second theme. Vernacular genres of opera and song are represented in the third chapter, while the Great Sage returns in the fourth for an exploration of the repertoire and richness of his favourite instrument, the qin. The final chapter ends the journey with discussion of the legacy of generations of Europeans who

Psychopathology: An Empathic Representational Approach retraces the foundations of classical phenomenological psychopathology and integrates them with modern ideas drawn from anthropology, cognitive neuroscience, computational science, and evolutionary biology to synthesize a comprehensive framework and provide fresh insights. This book explores how the scientific concepts of ‘information and representation’ can be used to understand subjective mental phenomena and integrate them in empathic clinical dialogues during interactions with patients. It explores key issues in clinical psychopathology coherently and systematically, illustrates advanced topics in an accessible manner using clinical case examples, metaphors and clarifying diagrams, and directly links advanced conceptual frameworks with pragmatic skills in the clinical dialogue process. This volume is aimed at a broad audience of mental health professionals, researchers, and students in psychiatry, psychology, and social work.

Tripitaka and his three disciples, Monkey, Pigsy, and Sandy, were chosen to undertake a pilgrimage to India, during which they came across all sorts of dangers and difficulties. This time, the Flaming Mountain blocked their way, and they needed a little help from the Princess Iron Fan and Bull Demon, well, parents of the Red Boy, who wanted to eat up Tripitaka and was just defeated by Monkey. Things never go smooth for them! My Favourite Chinese Stories is a collection of three Chinese stories specially selected and retold in English for young readers. The first story is from Chinese mythology, while the other two are from classical Chinese literature. They are widely known to the Chinese people, and reflect, in varying degrees, some of the essential characteristics of Chinese culture. Each story is accompanied by beautiful full-colour illustrations drawn by Lo King-man as well as audio narration by the author Pamela Youde.

The Dragon King below the Jing River defied the orders of the Jade God of the Heavens and was executed. His ghost resented the Tang Emperor Taizong for not saving him, and dragged the Emperor to the Underworld. What would the Emperor see in the Underworld? Was he able to return to life? My Favourite Chinese Stories is a collection of three Chinese stories specially selected and retold in English for young readers. The first story is from Chinese mythology, while the other two are from classical Chinese literature. They are widely known to the Chinese people, and reflect, in varying degrees, some of the essential characteristics of Chinese culture. Each story is accompanied by beautiful full-colour illustrations drawn by Lo King-man as well as audio narration by the author Pamela Youde.

Gods and Goddesses are not always perfect, what did Chang E do to have herself ending up alone on the moon? And do you know that Yi the Great Archer did more than just shooting down nine suns? My Favourite Chinese Stories is a collection of three Chinese stories specially selected and retold in English for young readers. The first story is from Chinese mythology, while the other two are from classical Chinese literature. They are widely known to the Chinese people, and reflect, in varying degrees, some of the essential characteristics of Chinese culture. Each story is accompanied by beautiful full-colour illustrations drawn by Lo King-man as well as audio narration by the author Pamela Youde.

This book is a comprehensive guide to one’s fate in the year of Tiger, including: 1. The Luck of the Newborn Tiger and Naming Tips; 2. Land Luck, Investment Strategy and Feng Shui Setting-out for the Year of the Tiger; 3. Fortune of Each Zodiac Sign as well as guidelines on Enhancing the Luck of Wealth, Health and Relationship; Chinese Almanac for the Year with suggested Lucky Days for various events.

Ann Wan-lih Chang（張婉麗） Ann Wan-lih Chang, was born in Taipei and currently lives in Kaohsiung. She received her M.A. at the Queen's University of Belfast in 1997 and her Ph.D. at the University of Ulster in 2006. Her major fields of study and research are contemporary Irish women's writing, the short fiction genre, discourse of stereotypes and archetypes in literary texts. Currently she is the assistant professor of the Department of Applied English at Shih-chien University, Kaohsiung Campus.

In the West, love occupies center stage in the modern age, whether in art, intellectual life, or the economic life. We may observe a similar development in China, on its own impetus, which has resulted in this characteristic of modernity—this feature of modern life has been securely and unambiguously established, not the least facilitated by the thriving of literature about qing, whether in traditional or modern forms. Qiancheng Li concentrates on the nuances of a similar trend manifested in the Chinese context. The emphasis is on critical readings of the texts that have shaped this trend, including important Ming- and Qing-dynasty works of drama, Buddhist texts and other religious/philosophical works, in all their subtlety and evocative power. -------------- The power of qing or strong emotion is a major theme in late imperial Chinese literature—some writers asserting that it can transcend even life itself. Qiancheng Li surveys a number of seventeenth-century philosophical, religio

The Drunkard is one of the first full-length stream-of-consciousness novels written in Chinese. It has been called the Hong Kong Novel, and was first published in 1962 as a serial in a Hong Kong evening paper. As the unnamed Narrator, a writer at odds with a philistine world, sinks to his drunken nadir, his plight can be seen to represent that of a whole intelligentsia, a whole culture, degraded by the brutal forces of history: the Second Sino-Japanese War and the rampant capitalism of post-war Hong Kong. The often surrealistic description of the Narrator’s inexorable descent through the seedy bars and night-clubs of Hong Kong, of his numerous encounters with dance-girls and his ever more desperate bouts of drinking, is counterpointed by a series of wide-ranging literary essays, analysing the Chinese classical tradition, the popular culture of China and the West, and the modernist movement in Western and Chinese literature. The ambiance of Hong Kong in the early 1960s is graphically

What elevates a mere word to the status of keyword? What does it mean to translate a keyword and map its meaning against other languages? Like every major culture, Chinese has its set of “keywords”: pivotal terms of political, ethical, literary and philosophical discourse. Tracing the origins, development, polysemy, and usages of keywords is one of the best ways to chart cultural and historical changes. This volume analyzes some of these keywords from different disciplinary and temporal perspectives, offering a new integrative study of their semantic richness, development trajectory, and distinct usages in Chinese culture. The authors of the volume explore different keywords and focus on different periods and genres, ranging from philosophical and historical texts of the Warring States period (453–221 BCE) to late imperial (ca. 16th–18th centuries CE) literature and philosophy. They are guided by a similar set of questions: What elevates a mere word to the status of “keyword”? What s

An indefatigable discoverer and preserver of lost traditions in the field of classical Chinese medicine, Liu Lihong has done it again—The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Transmission of Acupuncture features a passionate and clinically relevant synthesis of his discipleship with Yang Zhenhai, one of the last remaining master practitioners of Daoist acupuncture in mainland China. At the forefront of an international discourse on the definition and clinical significance of classical Chinese medicine, Yang and Liu promote yet another holistic medical system that radically contrasts the current penchant for symptom-oriented procedures. This English edition of their book lifts an important esoteric acupuncture lineage out of obscurity and presents it to us in complete and accessible form. The holistic approach has also defined Liu’s relentless search for the heart of Chinese medicine during the last three decades, driving his commitment to become the promoter of a diverse spectrum of healing tradit

The JINTIAN [今天] series of contemporary literature features new and innovative writing from mainland China and abroad. Titles in the series are edited by Bei Dao, Lydia H. Liu, and Christopher Mattison. A collaborative venture between Zephyr Press, the Jintian Literary Foundation, and The Chinese University Press, each bilingual title highlights the ever-changing literary culture of China while simultaneously expanding the English language with a wave of new voices in translation. “This collection of poems is an amazing clash of classical Chinese poetry, the New York School, postmodern cinema, and the inside of a singular heart-head. ‘Don’t worry. I’ve got no evidence here that can harm you,’ Ya Shi says, and it’s true, I’m not harmed by his tentative relationship with nature in his experimental sonnets, I’m not harmed by his dark humor or his fragmentary leaps into surprise. I’m too invested. Ya Shi deserves the ‘cardiac bang bang of literary fame’ he fears, and to Nick Admussen a

The Silk Manuscripts from Zidanku, Changsha (Hunan), are the only pre-Imperial Chinese manuscripts on silk found to-date. Dating to the turn from the 4th to the 3rd centuries BC (Late Warring States period), they contain several texts concerning basic cosmological concepts, including one manuscript (Manuscript 1) with a diagrammatic arrangement and surrounded by pictorial illustrations. As such, they constitute a unique source of information complementing and going beyond what is known from transmitted texts. This is the first in a two-volume monograph on the Zidanku manuscripts, reflecting almost four decades of research by Professor Li Ling of Peking University. While the philological study and translation of the manuscript texts is the subject of Volume Two, this first volume presents the archaeological context and history of transmission of the physical manuscripts. It records how they were taken from their original place of interment in the 1940s and taken to the United States in

This book is a comprehensive guide to one’s fate in the year of Pig, including: 1. The Luck of the Newborn Pigs and Naming Tips; 2. Land Luck, Investment Strategy and Feng Shui Setting-out for the Year of the Pig; 3. Fortune of Each Zodiac Sign as well as guidelines on Enhancing the Luck of Wealth, Health and Relationship; Chinese Almanac for the Year with suggested Lucky Days for various events.

Tracing China’s journey began from exploring rural revolution and reconstitutions of community in South China. Spanning decades of rural-urban divide, it finally uncovers China’s global reach and Hong Kong’s cross-border dynamics. Helen Siu traverses physical and cultural landscapes to examine political tumults transforming into everyday lives, and fathom the depths of human drama amid China’s frenetic momentum toward modernity. Highlighting complicity, Siu portrays how villagers, urbanites, cadres, entrepreneurs, and intellectuals—laden with historical baggage—venture forward. But have they victimized themselves in the process? This essay collection, informed by critical social theories and shaped by careful scrutiny of fieldwork and archival texts, is woven by key historical/anthropological themes—culture, history, power, place-making, and identity formation. Siu stresses process and contingency and argues that culture and society are constructed through human actions with nuanced

First published in 1968, this volume of essays, posthumously edited by the author's brother Professor C. T. Hsia (a prominent Columbia University professor of Chinese literature), focuses on Chinese literary criticism relating to the work of leftist Chinese writers, including Lu Hsün, Chiang Kuang-tz'u, the "Five Martyrs," and Chü Ch'iu-po, who were sympathetic to the ideals of the pre-1949 Chinese communist party. As one of the few foundational texts to provide a critical overview of the aesthetics and politics of China's leftist literary movement, The Gate of Darkness examines the conflicting dilemmas between leftist authors' own ideals and the strict ideological frameworks imposed by the propaganda policies of the Chinese communist party in the early twentieth century. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hsia's essays are exciting reading precisely because Mr. Hsia approached his subject not merely with the index-cards of a historian but also w

Selected as One of the Sixty-five Masterpieces for the UNESCO Collection of Representative Works The fu, or rhyme-prose, is a major poetic form in Chinese literature, most popular between the 2nd century b.c. and 6th century a.d. Unlike what is usually considered Chinese poetry, it is a hybrid of prose and rhymed verse, more expansive than the condensed lyrics, verging on what might be called Whitmanesque. The thirteen long poems included here are descriptions of and meditations on such subjects as mountains and abandoned cities, the sea and the wind, owls and goddesses, partings and the idle life. Burton Watson is universally considered the foremost English-language translator of classical Chinese and Japanese literature for the past five decades. Gary Snyder calls him a "great and graceful scholar," and Robert Aitken has written that "Burton Watson is a superb translator because he knows what literature is." Here his seemingly effortless translations are accompanied by a comprehens

Long before the Europeans reached the East, the ancient Chinese had elaborate and meaningful perspectives of the West. In this groundbreaking book, Wang explores their view of the West as other by locating it in the classical and imperial China, leading the reader through the history of Chinese geo-cosmologies and world-scapes. Wang also delves into the historical records of Chinese “world activities,” journeys that began from the Central Kingdom and reached towards the “outer regions.” Such analysis helps distinguish illusory geographies from realistic ones, while drawing attention to their interconnected natures. Wang challenges an extensive number of critical studies of Orientalist narratives (including Edward Said’s Orientalism), and reframes such studies from the directionological perspectives of an “Oriental” civilization. Most significantly, the author offers a fundamental reimagining of the standard concept of the other, with critical implications not only for anthropology, bu

This book closely examines texts from Chinese and Western traditions that hold up ethics as the inviolable ground of human existence, as well as those that regard ethics with suspicion. The negative notion of morality contends that because ethics cannot be divorced from questions of belonging and identity, there is a danger that it can be nudged into the domain of the unethical, since ethical virtues can become properties to be possessed with which the recognition of others is solicited. Ethics thus fosters the very egoism it hopes to transcend, and risks excluding the unfamiliar and the stranger. The author argues inspirationally that the unethical underbelly of ethics must be recognized in order to ensure that it remains vibrant.

《淮南子韻讀及校勘》是劉殿爵先生晚年的力作，繼清儒王念孫《淮南子韻譜》之後，此書是最精確的韻讀研究。校勘部分兼採諸家異說，提出獨到的見解，尤其精采。今後此書必將成為討論西漢楚語的堅實基礎，同時更是了解漢初思想史的重要依據。――丁邦新，中央研究院院士 D. C. Lau was, at the time of his passing in 2010, one of the world’s greatest scholars of classical Chinese philosophy. Long renowned for his translations of the Laozi, the Analects and the Mencius, and the Founding Editor for the CHANT series of critical texts and concordances, Lau was also a devotee of the Huainanzi. But during his long scholarly career he was only able to publish one article of textual notes in 1968 and the translation of the first chapter of the HNZ with Roger Ames, Yuan Dao: Tracing Dao to Its Source. This publication of his meticulous notes on the rhymes and textual criticism of the HNZ represents a heretofore unknown gift of Professor Lau’s profound scholarship to the world of Chinese Studies.―Harold D. Roth, Professor of Chinese Religious Studies, Brown University In what is indeed a highly technical study, Professor D. C. Lau wields

This authoritative collection contains writings by some thirty of the most significant Chinese writers of the period between 1919 and 1949. The three decades from which these pieces are drawn encompass most of the Republican period, a tumultuous era in Chinese history in which modernization and republicanism coexisted with classical culture. Thematically, these xiaopin wen, or modern Chinese essays, differ significantly from the more social and political fiction of the May Fourth movement. Their scope varies, from ruminations on broader existential issues to more personal contemplations on everyday life, often delving into issues of morality and interpersonal relations. Although described as "essays," they are not restrained by the formal, expository connotations of this English term; rather, their tone is more intimate, reflective, and at times witty or tinged with melancholy.

This reader is designed for an intermediate-level Chinese course in which students not only develop proficiency in the Chinese language but also gain some knowledge of Chinese culture. It consists of twenty-two lessons, which are arranged according to their level of difficulty. Each lesson contains a core text and a reading text. The contents of the texts cover a wide variety of topics, including Chinese language structures and characters, Chinese customs, proverbs, holidays, social phenomena, religions, poetry and geography, as well as Chinese folklore. A list of questions for group discussion follows the text in each chapter to help students further explore issues related to Chinese culture and to their own lives. Grammar notes and exercises for relevant grammatical points are introduced after each core text to enhance students’ skills of reading, comprehension and writing. The grammar notes are all explained in English and illustrated through sample sentences in Chinese with Engli