The Four Chinese Classics: Tao Te Ching, Chuang Tzu, Analects, Mencius [Paperback]

The books collected in this volume represent the first time since the mid-nineteenth century that the four seminal masterworks of ancient Chinese thought have been translated as a unified series by a single translator. Hinton's award-winning experience translating a wide range of ancient Chinese poets makes these books sing in English as never before. But these new versions are not only inviting and immensely readable, they also apply much-needed consistency to key philosophical terms in these texts, lending structural links and philosophical rigor heretofore unavailable in English. Breathing new life into these originary classics, Hinton's new translations will stand as the definitive texts for our era.

Perhaps the most broadly influential spiritual text in human history, Lao Tzu'sTao Te Chingis the source of Taoist philosophy, which eventually developed into Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism. Equally influential in the social sphere, Confucious'Analectsis the source of social wisdom in China. TheChuang Tzuis the wild and wacky prose complement to theTao Te Ching. And with its philosophical story-telling, theMeniciusadds depth and complexity to Confucius' vision.

David Hintonhas been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, numerous fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and both of the major awards given for poetry translation in the United States: the Landon Translation Award, and the PEN Translation Award. His recent book of essays,Hunger Mountain: A Field Guide to Mind and Landscape, was on the Best-Books-of-the-Year list atThe Guardianin England.