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Edition cover

Sources of Chinese Tradition (Records of Civilization, Sources and Studies and Introduction to Oriental Classics Series)

  • Burton Watson,
  • William Theodore De Bary,
  • Wing-tsit Chan,
  • Irene Bloom,
  • Irene Cohen

3.00

1 ratings

A collection of seminal primary readings on the social, intellectual, and religious traditions of China, Sources of Chinese Tradition, Volume 1 has been widely used and praised for almost forty years as an authoritative resource for scholars and students and as a thorough and engaging introduction for general readers. Here at last is a completely revised and expanded edition of this classic sourcebook, compiled by noted China scholars Wm. Theodore de Bary and Irene Bloom. Updated to reflect recent scholarly developments, with extensive material on popular thought and religion, social roles, and women's education, this edition features new translations of more than half the works from the first edition, as well as many new selections.

Arranged chronologically, this anthology is divided into four parts, beginning at the dawn of literate Chinese civilization with the Oracle-Bone inscriptions of the late Shang dynasty (1571–1045 B.C.E.) and continuing through the end of the Ming dynasty (C.E. 1644). Each chapter has an introduction that provides useful historical context and offers interpretive strategies for understanding the readings.

The first part, The Chinese Tradition in Antiquity, considers the early development of Chinese civilization and includes selections from Confucius's Analects, the texts of Mencius and Laozi, as well as other key texts from the Confucian, Daoist, and Legalist schools. Part 2, The Making of a Classical Culture, focuses on Han China with readings from the Classic of Changes (I Jing), the Classic of Filiality, major Han syntheses, and the great historians of the Han dynasty. The development of Buddhism, from the earliest translations from Sanskrit to the central texts of the Chan school (which became Zen in Japan), is the subject of the third section of the book. Titled Later Daoism and Mahayana Buddhism in China, this part also covers the teachings of Wang Bi, Daoist religion, and texts of the major schools of Buddhist doctrine and practice. The final part, The Confucian Revival and Neo-Confucianism, details the revival of Confucian thought in the Tang, Song, and Ming periods, with historical documents that link philosophical thought to political, social, and educational developments in late imperial China.

With annotations, a detailed chronology, glossary, and a new introduction by the editors, Sources of Chinese Tradition will continue to be a standard resource, guidebook, and introduction to Chinese civilization well into the twenty-first century.—Publisher

Genres

  • Sources
  • Civilization
  • Historia
  • Fuentes
  • China, history, sources
  • China, civilization
  • History
  • China, social life and customs
  • Anthropology
  • Cultural studies
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About the authors

  • Burton Watson

    born 1925

    3.67

    3 ratings · 52 works

  • William Theodore De Bary

    1919 - 2017

    3.00

    1 ratings · 88 works

  • Wing-tsit Chan

    1901 - 1994

    3.00

    1 ratings · 42 works

  • Irene Bloom

    3.00

    1 ratings · 7 works

  • Irene Cohen

    3.00

    1 ratings · 2 works

Editions

  • Edition cover

    Columbia University Press

    Jul 15, 1999

  • Edition cover

    second edition edition

    Columbia University Press

    March 15, 2001

  • Edition cover

    Fourth printing

    Columbia University Press

    1963

  • Edition cover

    2nd ed.

    Columbia University Press

    1999

  • History - General History
  • History: World
  • China
  • Asia - China
  • General
  • Religion
  • China, history
  • Zivilisation
  • Cultuurgeschiedenis
  • Edition cover

    Second edition

    Columbia University Press

    2000

  • Edition cover

    New Ed edition

    Columbia University Press

    1960

  • Edition cover

    second edition edition

    Columbia University Press

    March 15, 2000

  • Edition cover

    Columbia University Press,2001

    2001-01-01

  • Edition cover

    Columbia University Press

    1960-01-01

  • Edition cover

    Columbia University Press

    2001

  • Edition cover

    Columbia University Press

    1966

  • Edition cover

    Columbia University Press

    1963

  • Edition cover

    Columbia University Press

    1964

  • Edition cover

    Columbia University Press

    1967

  • Edition cover

    Text ed.

    Columbia University Press

    1964

  • Edition cover

    Columbia University Press

    1964

  • Edition cover

    Columbia University Press

    1960

  • Edition cover

    Columbia University Press

  • Edition cover

    Columbia University Press

    2010

  • Edition cover

    Columbia University Press

    1960

  • Edition cover

    Columbia University Press

    1999

  • Edition cover

    Columbia Univ Pr

    February 1964