The Daoist classic Zhuangzi, attributed to Master Zhuang Zhou (ca. 369-286 BCE), is among the most challenging texts in Chinese philosophy to translate. Brook Ziporyn’s brilliant translation not only captures its philosophical richness and openness but also conveys its poetic and humorous qualities, offering a reading experience akin to the original Chinese text.
I particularly resonate with Ziporyn’s emphasis on the “muchness and manyness” of the Zhuangzi, as it grasps the text’s rich complexity and diverse interpretations. This book also offers explanatory footnotes that provide essential information to aid real-time reading, as well as endnotes and a “Glossary of Essential Terms” that address philological matters and conceptual issues.
These features make this Daoist classic highly accessible to readers interested in early Chinese philosophy and literature.
The Daoist classic Zhuangzi has a rich tradition of commentaries, with Guo Xiang (265–312) being the earliest and most influential. Guo is credited with editing the text into the thirty-three-chapter version known today and providing a comprehensive commentary that deepens understanding of its often ambiguous narratives and aphorisms.
Richard Lynn’s monumental translation of Guo’s interlinear commentary, along with his new translation of the Zhuangzi, make this essential text accessible to English readers. Lynn achieves a superb balance between literary Chinese syntactic equivalence and English fluency. The book includes an 89-page introduction detailing Guo’s life and contributions, extensive notes, four appendices, and two glossaries.
These materials embody Lynn’s profound knowledge of Chinese thoughts and literature, expanding our understanding of the interpretative tradition surrounding the Zhuangzi.
The Zhuangzi (Sayings of Master Zhuang) is one of the foundational texts of the Chinese philosophical tradition and the cornerstone of Daoist thought. The earliest and most influential commentary on the Zhuangzi is that of Guo Xiang (265-312), who also edited the text into the thirty-three-chapter version known ever since. Guo's commentary enriches readings of the Zhuangzi, offering keen insights into the meaning and significance of its pithy but often ambiguous aphorisms, narratives, and parables.
Richard John Lynn's new translation of the Zhuangzi is the first to follow Guo's commentary in its interpretive choices. Unlike any previous translation into any…
This book is the first complete English translation of Cheng Xuanying’s commentary on the foundational Daoist classic Daode jing. With thorough annotations and exegesis, Friederike Assandri has made this influential Tang Dynasty text of Daoist philosophy available to English readers.
The introduction to the translation offers in-depth discussions of the historical, political, and cultural contexts surrounding the text, alongside a biography of Cheng Xuangying and astute analyses of Buddhist influence on his philosophy. The book provides valuable insights into the Chongxuan (Twofold Mystery) teachings and illustrates how Buddhist concepts were integrated into the interpretation of the Daode Jing.
This work is an essential sourcebook for students and scholars interested in Daoist thought and the broader history of Chinese philosophy.
This book presents for the first time in English a complete translation of the Expository Commentary to the Daode jing, written by the Daoist monk Cheng Xuanying in the 7th century CE. This commentary is a quintessential text of Tang dynasty Daoist philosophy and of Chongxuanxue or Twofold Mystery teachings. Cheng Xuanying proposes a reading of the ancient Daode jing that aligns the text with Daoist practices and beliefs and integrates Buddhist concepts and techniques into the exegesis of the Daode jing.
Building on the philosophical tradition of Xuanxue authors like Wang Bi, Cheng read the Daode jing in light…
Haiku is widely known in English-speaking countries, but its precursor, haikai (humorous linked verse), remains largely unfamiliar outside Japan. This book explores how seventeenth-century Japanese haikai poets adapted the Daoist text Zhuangzi, transforming haikai from light-hearted verse into high poetry.
It highlights the connections between the poems and prose written by prominent haikai poets and the Daoist classics, emphasizing their engagement with the Zhuangzi as crucial to reshaping haikai.
For those interested in Japanese poetry, Daoist philosophy, and its relationship to artistic creativity, this book offers in-depth discussions on haikai poetics alongside the Daoist traits in Chinese poetry.
It also provides extensive translations and comparative analyses of selected classical Chinese and Japanese texts and a 29-page glossary to aid in studying both Japanese and Chinese poetry.
