Ancient Chinese (Reading Textbook. Outline) (Set of Two Volumes)

Author: Zhang Wenguo
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: This book is a summary of the author's many years of teaching ancient Chinese. It has the following characteristics:
1. Practical. The book adopts a unified perspective throughout, while also listing the different viewpoints of current popular ancient Chinese textbooks in footnotes. This way, reading this book is equivalent to reading several books, giving readers a general understanding of the current state of research on ancient Chinese. The ancient Chinese textbooks mentioned in the footnotes mainly include: Wang Li (ed.), Ancient Chinese; Guo Xiliang, He Jiuying (eds.), Outline of Ancient Chinese; Zhu Zhenjia (ed.), Ancient Chinese; Zhang Zhiqiang (ed.), Ancient Chinese; Hong Chengyu (ed.), Ancient Chinese Tutorial; Zhang Shilu (ed.), Ancient Chinese Tutorial; Xie Huiquan (ed.), Ancient Chinese Tutorial, etc.
2. Concise. The book strives for brevity and clarity in its writing, which is inseparable from its practical purpose. Although it covers a wide range of content, the book focuses on key points, avoids unnecessary (research), lengthy discussions, and excessive examples, aiming to include as much knowledge as possible in the smallest space.
3. Comprehensive. The main body of the book remains the five parts: texts, vocabulary, grammar, rhetoric, and phonology. However, it also includes four additional sections: "Pronunciation of Ancient Books," "Punctuation of Ancient Books," and "Basic Knowledge of Classical Documents." Especially the section "Basic Knowledge of Classical Documents" briefly introduces changes in book formats, the composition of the Four Divisions (Jing, Shi, Zi, Ji) of classical literature, versions of ancient books, collation of ancient texts, explanations of ancient books, and avoidance of taboo words, giving readers a general understanding of the basics of classical Chinese documents. After the four parts of texts, vocabulary, grammar, and phonology, there is a section titled "Introduction to Major Works," which not only helps readers recognize ancient linguistic literature but also deepens their understanding of the ancient Chinese theories learned.
4. Scientific. The main text of the book is very cautious in its selection of viewpoints, choice of examples, and arrangement of format. For instance, it only includes widely accepted views, while controversial ones are listed in footnotes. Each section begins with "Learning Objectives," which can serve as an outline for studying that section, achieving twice the result with half the effort.