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Literature / Classics / Cultural / Social
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Good stories and ideas can get lost in translation! This is a list to especially highlight works written by ethnic Chinese and have been translated by others who studies or knows the Chinese language (ancient or modern) and/or have lived in the Middle Kingdom for more than 1 year.

The definition of China or Chinese here is broad, since the territory of the Middle Kingdom has changed constantly since Tao Te Ching was written in 4th Century BC, that’s 2500+ years ago. Please kindly consider China or Chinese here as an ethnic or cultural label instead of a geopolitical one.

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a list of awesome Translators (not exhaustive!)
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• David Hawkes ------ Oxford
• John Minford ------ Oxford
• Xianyi Yang + Gladys Yang ------ Oxford
• Moss Roberts ------ Columbia
• Sidney Shapiro ------ Army Chinese-language school
• Bill Porter, aka Red Pine ------ Columbia
• Anthony C Yu ------ U Chicago
• Richard E. Strassberg ------ Princeton, UCLA
• David Hinton ------ Cornell
• William Lyell ------ Stanford
• Anna Holmwood ------Oxford
• Joseph S. M. Lau ------ National Taiwan University, Columbia
• Cyril Birch ------ U of London, UC Berkeley

Then, Will highlight a few books from different time periods for starters! =)

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Pre-Qin China: 221 BC and Prior
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==== 【 PHILOSOPHY 】 ==== 10+ schools, will just highlight a few here:
• Zhuangzi: The Book of Chuang Tzu
• Confucious: The Analects
• Daoist: Dao De Jing (aka Tao Te Ching) ~ The Dialectics
• Mencius

==== 【 Myths & Legends 】 ====
Unfortunately, few satisfying English translations exist for these…
• Shan Hai Jing (aka Strange Creatures from the Guideways through Mountains and Seas, or Classic of Mountains and Seas)
• Feng Shen Yan Yi (aka Investiture of the Gods, Romance of Enfeoffment to Deities)

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The Many Centuries In-Between
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==== 【 POETRY 】 ====
• A Little Primer of Tu Fu (8th Century)

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14th-18th Century
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==== 【 4 GREAT CLASSIC NOVELS !! 】 ====
• Three Kingdoms
• Story of the Stone (aka Dream of the Red Chamber)
• Outlaws of the Marsh (aka Water Margin)
• Journey to the West (aka Monkey)


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19th -20th Century
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Political Context: Communist Party (CPC) was established in 1921.
Today's China was founded in 1949.

==== 【 MARTIAL ARTS NOVELS !!】 ====
These are light-hearted and fun! Many written by Louis Cha aka Jin Yong from HongKong.
• The Deer and the Cauldron
• The Legend of the Condor Heroes

==== 【 DRAMA, SHORT STORIES 】====
Before 1949 and even before 1921
• Lu Xun: Diary of a Mad Man and Others

After 1949
• Lao She: Teahouse


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21st Century
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==== 【 SCI-FI 】 ====
• Cixin Liu: The Three Body Problem, etc.


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Social / Modern Social Life
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This is really out of the scope considering the original purpose of this list to identify good translators! However, here are a few for people whom are curious about these aspects of things and want to read some nonfiction as well. Mostly by people who lived in the Middle Kingdom for a few years, who wrote about the ordinary people and interesting families. Not motivated by politics directly. Writers/Journalists to highlight: Peter Hessler, Evan Osnos, Jung Chang

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• Peter Hessler: River Town, Country Driving (Great for people visiting China for the 1st time)
• Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China
• The Good Man of Nanking: The Diaries of John Rabe
• Evan Osnos: Age of Ambition