The capstone of a distinguished career in Chinese studies, this prodigious work of scholarship will become the major work in its field for many decades to come. It not only attempts to elucidate and interpret the meaning of seminal Chinese texts in their own light but also challenges Western modes of thinking that have prevented a full understanding of East Asia. While emphasizing the problematic and diverse nature of this thought, it also considers views that stress the unity of Chinese culture.
Attention is accorded to pre-Confucian texts, the volition of early Confucianism, Mo-Tzu, Taoism, Legalism, the Yin-Yang school, the "Five Classics," as well as to the intellectual issues that cut across the conventional classification of schools. Schwartz brings to his penetrating discussions of ancient Chinese thought a profound knowledge of the social sciences and of comparative philosophy and religion. Although he focuses on high cultural texts, he also illuminates the vast realm of popular culture in this boldly original work.
Editorial Reviews
"In spirit this work reminds us of the writings of Isaiah Berlin. Like Berlin, Schwartz is also 'against the current.' He takes nothing for granted and completely frees himself from what is called the 'tyranny of concept.'" —Ying-shih Yu, Yale University
"The book is a lucid, accurate, agreeably written and comprehensive survey, based on a long familiarity with the whole of the literature of Chinese schools of thought down to the second century BC, and its great strength is its range of comparisons with other traditions. Chinese thought has never before been contemplated with quite this breadth of vision...Schwartz's book deserves to stand for some time to come as the most authoritative account of ancient Chinese thought for the Westerner interested in the history of ideas." —A.C. Graham, Times Literary Supplement
"With this immensely learned book, Mr.Schwartz has challenged those who reflect only on Western historical experience or 'primitive' societies to take the world of thought in ancient China into account...The great contribution of this book is to engage ancient Chinese thought in a dialogue with late 20th-century intellectual, moral and political concerns." —Willard J. Peterson New York Times Book Review
About the Author
Benjamin I. Schwartz is Leroy B. Williams Professor of History and Political Science, Harvard University.
