Publisher : Foreign Languages Press
Published Date : 7/2010
Language : English
ISBN/ISSN : 9787119060088
Pages : 367
Weight : 1.10kg
Availability : Usually ship within 48 hours
Book Type : Reference
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This is a complete translation of Liu's Commentaries of History (Lu Shi Chun Qiu), an ancient classic compiled in 239 B.C. by Lu Buwei, the Prime Minister of the state of Qin, who collected and arranged the writings of his "house guests" or followers into a book. The writings represented his ideas and aimed to serve as a guide to government for the Qin ruler. Dealing with a wide range of subjects in more than 203,000 words, the book is one of the longest of the early Chinese classics and an encyclopedic compendium of early Chinese thought and civilization.
The book Lu's Commentaries of History was compiled by Ln Buwei，the Prime Minister of the state of Qin，near the end of the Warring States Period(475-221 B．C．)， a period of chaotic wars between rival states．As the state of Qin was growing increasingly more powerful and had won many victorious battles against other states，it became clear that the whole country was about to be unified under the Qin empire．The purpose of compiling the book was to provide a guide to government for the future Qin ruler．It was a period when the Confucian，Taoist, Moist and Legalist schools of thought prevailed．But instead of following any particular school of thought，Ln adopted what was useful and rejected what was harmful from the various schools of thought． AS the book contains a wealth of political and philosophical ideas as well as writings concerning moral standards， human conduct，cultural undertakings， science, astronomy, calendar-making．medicine, agriculture and other subjects, it provides important materials for the study of the history of that period。
About the translator Born in 1925，Tang Bowen was a senior English editor and translator at the
Foreign Languages Press．A graduate of Peking University in Beijing, he studied in England when he was young，Among the dozens of Chinese books he has translated into English are：Selected Works of Zhuang Zi(published by Chinese Literature Press)；Mao Zedong's Art of War, Tales About Chinese Emperors，China’S Ethnic Minorities and Confucius(published by Peace Books in Hong Kong)；The Summer Palace and Its Backs' round Stories, Discovering the Forbidden City Tales of Ming Emperors and Empresses and Chinese Gods of 0 ld Trades(published by Foreign Languages Press)；Best Chinese Idioms(published by Hai Feng Publishing Company in Hong Kong)；Chinese Pottery and Porcelain (published by Long River Press of the United States)，Ancient Chinese Bronzes (published by Oxford University Press)；Chinese Persona l Names(published by Federal Publications in Singapore)；and (with others)Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting(published by Yale University Press)