Classics Summarized Text-Commentary Comparison

Author: Wu Chucai (Qing Dynasty)
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2001-12-01
Features: This book is divided into twelve volumes and includes over 100 classical Chinese texts from the Zhou to Ming dynasties, as selected from Essentials of Classical Chinese. In addition to the original texts, it provides detailed translations in vernacular Chinese, comprehensive annotations, and summaries of the content. The book is rich in content and innovative in form, combining knowledge and readability. Through reading this book, readers can expand their knowledge, broaden their horizons, and improve their ability to read and understand classical Chinese. Essentials of Classical Chinese spans classical texts from the Zhou and Qin dynasties to the Ming dynasty. This book focuses on classical Chinese from the Qing dynasty to complement Essentials of Classical Chinese, hence the name Essentials of Qing Classical Chinese. Those who have already read Essentials of Classical Chinese will find this volume completes the set. The selection of Qing-era texts in this book is based on the following criteria: (1) Relevance to the times. (2) In addition to renowned masterpieces, works with profound meaning and contributions to society are also included. (3) A comprehensive representation of various literary genres to help readers generalize and apply knowledge.
The purpose of compiling Essentials of Classical Chinese is to "correct moral cultivation and benefit future learners," providing young people with an introductory reading material for classical Chinese prose. Sun Zhu, known as Hongtang Tuyushi, wrote in the preface to Three Hundred Poems from the Tang Dynasty: "Read three hundred Tang poems, and even if you can't compose poetry, you'll know how to sing it." Similarly, we might say: "By reading most of the texts in Essentials of Classical Chinese, you will become familiar with classical Chinese vocabulary, grammatical patterns, and the principles of structuring essays, accumulating emotional knowledge, laying a foundation for reading and even writing classical Chinese, and grasping the general outline of the development of classical Chinese prose in ancient China. This opens the door to further studies. Moreover, these two hundred-plus texts are short and mostly widely celebrated, making them easy to memorize. For three hundred years, it has been immensely popular among readers. Its widespread circulation among the general public in the Qing dynasty can be said to have surpassed Essentials of Classical Prose by Genres, compiled by the master Yao Nai of the Tongcheng School. It became a must-read textbook for beginners learning classical Chinese. Even after the Xinhai Revolution, many schools continued to use it as their national literature curriculum.