Showing results by author "James Legge" in All Categories

Chinese Philosophy: The Classic Collection is a comprehensive anthology that explores the rich philosophical traditions of ancient China. This book features key texts such as "The Analects," which contains the teachings of Confucius, and "Tao Te Ching," a foundational text of Taoism. It also includes "Musings of a Chinese Mystic," offering insights from the enigmatic sage Chuang Tzu, as well as "The Sayings of Mencius," presenting the ethical and political philosophy of Mencius. Lastly, "The Art of War" provides strategic wisdom from the renowned military strategist Sun Tzu.

James Legge was one of the first great popularisers of Eastern ideas and religion in the West. In this foundational work, he provides a translation of the Dao De Jing/ Tao Te Ching that stands up well today, over a hundred years later.

The Classic of Changes (I Ching / Yìjīng / 易經) is one of the oldest and most enduring texts in the Chinese literary tradition, and one of the oldest books on record. The trigrams and method are classically attributed to the culture hero and legendary emperor Fu Xi (c. 2800 BCE), who also...

The Tàishàng Gǎnyìng Piān (太上感應篇) is the most influential morality text in Chinese history, a succinct layperson's guide to Daoist ethics. It gives a long series of life rules, for both action and thought, listing specific good and bad deeds and the consequences they invite, with...

Any study of Dàoism is a paradox. The first line of the Dàodé Jīng declares: "The way that can be spoken of is not the constant way." This inherent contradiction—attempting to define the indefinable—lies at the heart of the tradition. Yet it is precisely this tension that makes Dàoism so rich and enduring.

Lao Zi is believed to have been born in 604, during the Chou Dynasty. Little is known of his life and there is some speculation that he was mythical.