The Code of Fable: Exploring the Roots of Chinese Thought in the Axial Age

Author: Zhang Yuanshan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: Approaching the topic through the fables of the pre-Qin philosophers, this book conducts an in-depth study of the origins of early Chinese history and its cultural thought. The Cipher of Fables – Exploring the Roots of Chinese Thought in the Axial Age is the result of the author's twenty-five years (1980–2005) of repeated study of pre-Qin philosophical classics and related research works throughout the generations. Taking the fables of the pre-Qin philosophers as a starting point, the book offers a comprehensive exploration of the origins of Chinese history and its early cultural thought. Two-thirds of the fables selected in the book were picked out by the author from the vast ancient texts and were summarized for the first time in the form of four-character idioms.