Daxue & Zhongyong

by Ian Johnston (Translator), Wang Ping (Translator)

For the past eight hundred years, the study of Confucian doctrine has been largely dominated by the crucial works known as the "Four Books": the Analects, the Mencius, the Daxue, and the Zhongyong. In their original forms, the Daxue and Zhongyong were two of the more than forty chapters of the larger Li ji (Book of Rites), only gaining prominence thanks to the Song Neo-Confucian scholar Zhu Xi.

In this groundbreaking text, Ian Johnston and Wang Ping have translated both of these versions of the Daxue and Zhongyong, one version as chapters of the Li ji that contain the influential commentary and notes of Zheng Xuan and Kong Yingda, and the second after they were reorganized into standalone works and reinterpreted by Zhu Xi. Johnston and Wang also include extensive explanatory and supplemental materials to help contextualize and familiarize readers with these supremely influential works.

576 pages, Hardcover

First published January 4, 2011

About the author

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Reviews

[Josh Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was wonderful. The presentation, editing, and translation quality was top notch, and the introduction and footnotes really helped me understand the more precise concepts in the text.

As a bit of advice, you should utilize this text alongside the other two books of the “Four Books and Five Classics”. The Da Xue functions like an introduction, and the Zhongyong is like a capstone synthesis. The former give you the vocabulary that will help you with the middle two texts and provides context, the latter being together all the concepts and expands upon them. It’s really an essential resource if you are interested in Classical Chinese philosophy or literature.