30 Must-Read Classics of Chinese National Studies

Author: Guo Chuan Li Jinying
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: This book is part of the "Master Classics·Reading Plan" series, which selects dozens of the most influential masters from 16 fields such as Chinese classics, Western studies, Chinese literature, foreign literature, poetry, biographies of famous figures, strategy, personal cultivation, psychological motivation, popular science, management, economics, investment, film, art, and music. It focuses on introducing their most representative works, interpreting the profound thoughts of the masters in simple language, conveying the theories from the original texts that require great effort to understand in easy-to-understand sentences, and elaborating on the essence of great works in concise words. It allows readers to absorb the valuable experience and wisdom accumulated by the masters in a short time, leading them into a sacred spiritual realm. This book recommends 30 essential Chinese classics, such as The Analects, The Art of War by Confucius, and Zizhi Tongjian. The breadth of reading changes the length of one's life journey; the depth of reading determines the height of one's intellectual realm. Regardless of how fiercely traditional and modern cultures collide, or how Eastern and Western civilizations merge and permeate each other, facing the vast treasure trove of Chinese traditional culture, we cannot ignore or betray it, because traditional culture is the identity marker of a nation and a people. From the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods when the Hundred Schools of Thought flourished, Chinese history may have seen dynasties rise and fall and the world change, but Chinese culture has remained as enduring as the sun and moon in the sky and rivers flowing on the earth. The vast collection of Chinese classics is proof that Chinese civilization has stood tall in the history of human civilization. The "Master Classics·Reading Plan" series allows you to read 550 classics in one go, with over 40 young experts from various fields, taking 30 months to review 60 million words of textual materials, compiling more than 3,000 exquisite images, recommending 550 immortal classics, and，16. How to Read The Analects Any nation with a long history will have its own cultural roots. Five thousand years of Chinese civilization is an inexhaustible spiritual source that should and can exert tremendous inspirational power. In the context of global economic and technological integration, understanding one's own nation's cultural roots is extremely important. A nation that has lost its cultural roots has no hope, lacks cohesion, may even lose national confidence and pride, and cannot earn respect from other countries and nations in the world. It will struggle to stand tall among the nations of the world. A country without modern science or advanced technology can be easily defeated. However, if it loses its cultural roots, it will collapse on its own. The Analects is not only a philosophical classic and a historical classic but also a literary classic. The language of The Analects is concise, simple, and profound. The entire text has only over 10,000 characters, yet it has condensed more than 200 idioms. For example, "learning without satiety," "teaching without weariness," "among three people, there must be a teacher for me," "act bravely for justice," "carry a heavy burden and travel a long distance," "excess is as bad as deficiency," "calamity arises from one's own house," and "haste makes waste," etc., have become classics of the language and still retain vitality today. Reading The Analects also allows us to learn various rhetorical techniques such as metaphors, contrasts, parallelism, rhetorical questions, and questions in reverse, improving our literary cultivation. Reading The Analects not only impresses us with its profound philosophy and timeless language but also moves us with its vivid portrayal of characters. For example, in the passage "Zilu, Zengzi, Ran You, and Gongxihua Waiting to Sit with the Master," Zilu's boldness, Ran You's modesty, Gongxihua's eagerness to learn, and Zengzi's carefree nature are all vividly brought to life. A line like "The Master sighed deeply and said, 'I agree with Zengzi'" shows that Confucius was not a lofty, otherworldly "model teacher for all ages" but a lovable old man who loved life and nature, and was a friend to his students as well as a teacher. From this, we can see that reading The Analects is not dull but rather very vivid and interesting. How to Read The Analects? First, one must be humble. Zhu Xi said, "There is no other way to read books than to just keep reading. It's like a foolish person, persistently reading, yet not forming an opinion beforehand, just being humble and reading. Read and read, and naturally, you will understand." Many modern readers of Chinese classics suffer from a common ailment. They specialize in criticizing the ancients, not drawing wisdom from the classics but seeing themselves as high-and-mighty judges, treating the classics as prisoners to interrogate, and even thinking this is a "creative" act. Reading The Analects in this way only adds unnecessary complications and yields no results. Of course, the classics have flaws, and the ancients are not beyond criticism, but one must first understand the original meaning of the classics objectively, without preconceived notions. As Zhu Xi said, "When reading texts, trust the original sentences, don't add words. There are gaps there, like fitting pieces together. You must open them yourself. It's not a solid object that you can force open, and you cannot form an opinion beforehand and force the ancients' meaning to fit." "Forming an opinion beforehand" and "forcefully opening," are things to avoid when first reading The Analects. Second, when reading The Analects, one must start by learning the characters. Some characters in The Analects look the same today as they did in ancient times, but their actual meanings have changed.