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Introduction to Classical Chinese
This textbook provides a comprehensive scholarly introduction to Classical Chinese and its texts. Classical Chinese is the language of Confucius and Mencius and their contemporaries, who wrote the seminal texts of Chinese philosophy more than 2,000 years ago. Although it was used as a living language for only a relatively short time, it was the foundation of Chinese education throughout the Imperial age, and formed the basis of a literary tradition that continues to the present day.
This book offers students all the necessary tools to read, understand, and analyse Classical Chinese texts, step-by-step clearly illustrated descriptions of syntactic features; core vocabulary lists; introductions to relevant historical and cultural topics; selected readings from classical literature with original commentaries and in-depth explanations; introductions to dictionaries and other reference works on the study of ancient China; and a guide to philological methods used in the critical analysis of Classical Chinese texts. The extensive glossary provides phonological reconstructions, word classes, English translations, and citations to illustrate usage, while the up-to-date bibliography serves as a valuable starting point for further research.
This book offers students all the necessary tools to read, understand, and analyse Classical Chinese texts, step-by-step clearly illustrated descriptions of syntactic features; core vocabulary lists; introductions to relevant historical and cultural topics; selected readings from classical literature with original commentaries and in-depth explanations; introductions to dictionaries and other reference works on the study of ancient China; and a guide to philological methods used in the critical analysis of Classical Chinese texts. The extensive glossary provides phonological reconstructions, word classes, English translations, and citations to illustrate usage, while the up-to-date bibliography serves as a valuable starting point for further research.
- GenresChina
588 pages, Hardcover
Published October 25, 2021
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October 22, 2022
This is probably the first review of Vogelsang's textbook anywhere online so I will try to be as helpful as possible. Chinese is my 2nd language and I began intensively studying it 2 years ago. My reading level is around HSK6 but that will only be semi-useful for reading classical Chinese. Other background that may help is watching period dramas e.g. 三国 because they get you acquainted with nominal clauses (xx者), the prepositions 其、以、之 etc.
Also important note: this textbook is on 古文（论语、老子等）NOT 文言文（四大名著） and also NOT 前古文（诗经、尚书等）
His textbook is split into two parts. The 1st part deals with grammar, syntax and sentence structure. Very heavy in linguistics but the dry nature of the subject is livened up by Vogelsang. He provides ample cultural and historical context whenever special nouns are introduced and in between chapters there are also foci on various aspects of ancient China history that are essential to understanding classical Chinese allusions.
The 2nd part focuses on 17 different works and scrutinises their key passages. Very interesting commentary on the source text and sometimes the commentaries themselves. Unlike other textbooks he reproduces the works in their present, sometimes flawed or fragmented, state with extensive commentaries attempting to explain these inadequacies. He also challenges the reader because repeated words are not defined twice, unless the character has multiple meanings. So you have to remember every word you see and it's definition if you are new to Chinese. It isn't as bad if you are a native speaker. May be more difficult if you read mostly simplified Chinese though.
At the end of it I think I understand and appreciate Chinese culture a lot more. I can maybe now read 70-80% of classical Chinese sentences and decipher them, compared to 0% before that. Not the best but I wasn't expecting to fully understand them from one textbook. Not to worry though, Vogelsang will also go through techniques to systematically analyse sentence syntax and also parallelism to help you decipher text meanings easier. If there are individual sentences you still can't get, you can always type in the sentence in Google and someone should have done an 译文 of it.
Also important note: this textbook is on 古文（论语、老子等）NOT 文言文（四大名著） and also NOT 前古文（诗经、尚书等）
His textbook is split into two parts. The 1st part deals with grammar, syntax and sentence structure. Very heavy in linguistics but the dry nature of the subject is livened up by Vogelsang. He provides ample cultural and historical context whenever special nouns are introduced and in between chapters there are also foci on various aspects of ancient China history that are essential to understanding classical Chinese allusions.
The 2nd part focuses on 17 different works and scrutinises their key passages. Very interesting commentary on the source text and sometimes the commentaries themselves. Unlike other textbooks he reproduces the works in their present, sometimes flawed or fragmented, state with extensive commentaries attempting to explain these inadequacies. He also challenges the reader because repeated words are not defined twice, unless the character has multiple meanings. So you have to remember every word you see and it's definition if you are new to Chinese. It isn't as bad if you are a native speaker. May be more difficult if you read mostly simplified Chinese though.
At the end of it I think I understand and appreciate Chinese culture a lot more. I can maybe now read 70-80% of classical Chinese sentences and decipher them, compared to 0% before that. Not the best but I wasn't expecting to fully understand them from one textbook. Not to worry though, Vogelsang will also go through techniques to systematically analyse sentence syntax and also parallelism to help you decipher text meanings easier. If there are individual sentences you still can't get, you can always type in the sentence in Google and someone should have done an 译文 of it.
Displaying 1 of 1 review