Center for Confucian Science

What Can We Read About Confucius and Confucianism?

Introduction

Good articles on Confucius and Confucianism can be found in most encyclopedias such as Encyclopedia Americana, Encyclopedia Britannica, Collier's Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Catholic Encyclopedia, etc.

 

 

Confucius and Confucianism

· Liu, Wu-chi. Confucius: His Life and Time. New York: Philosophical Library, 1956.

· Creel, Herrlee G. Confucius, The Man and The Myth. New York: John Day, 1949.

· Fingarette, Herbert. Confucius -- The Secular as Sacred. New York: Harper & Row, 1972.

· Sims, Bennett. Confucius: Immortals Philosophy and Religion. New York: Franklin Watt, 1968.

· Smith, D. H. Confucius. New York: Charles Scribner's, 1973.

· Confucianism: The Dynamics of Tradition. Edited by Irene Eber, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1986.

 

 

History

· Fung, Yu-lan. History of Chinese Philosophy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1952-1953.

· Chan, Wing-tsit. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Press, 1963.

· Liu, Wu-chi. A Short History of Confucian Philosophy. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1955.

 

 

Confucian Classics

Confucian classics consist of the Four books (Sse Shu) and Five Canons (Wu Ching) and they have been translated into many different languages including Latin, French, German, Italian, Russian, etc.

 

The Four Books (similar to the New Testament)

1. The Analects (Lun Yu): Confucian Analects, In The Chinese Classics, translated by James Legge. Reprint by University of Hong Kong, 1949. v. l. Different versions by Arthur Waley, D. C. Lau, William Edward Soothill, Ezra Pound.

 

2. The Great Learning (Ta Hsueh): The Great Learning, In the Chinese Classics, translated by James Legge. Reprint by The University of Hong Kong, 1949. v. l . Many different update editions are available. Different versions by Ezra Pound, Lin Yutang.

 

3. The Doctrine of the Mean (Chung Yung): The Doctrine of the Mean, In the Chinese Classics, translated by James Legge. Reprint by The University of Hong Kong, 1949. v. l. Different versions by Ezra Pound, Ernest Richard Hughes.

 

4. The Works of Mencius (Meng-tzu): The Works of Mencius (Meng-tzu), In the Chinese Classics, translated by James Legge. Reprint by The University of Hong Kong, 1949. v. 2. Different versions by W. A. C. H. Dobson, Dim Cheuk, D. C. Lau.

 

* Hsun-tzu (should be included in this category is the Five Books)The Works of Hsuntze, translated from the Chinese, with notes by Homer H. Dubs. London: A. Probsthian, 1928. The latest edition: New York: AMS Press, l977. Different versions by Burton Watson, Stanford University. The best translation is: Xun Zi, a translation and study of the complete works, by John Knoblock. Stanford, Ca.: Stanford University Press, 1988 - 3vs.

 

 

The Five Canons (similar to the Old Testament)

1. The Book of Changes (I Ching):

· The Yijing or Book of Changes. The Richard Wilhelm Translation rendered into English by Cary F. Baynes. Foreword by C. G. Jung. Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Press, 1979 (17th ed.) So far this is the best translation. Other different translations and interpretations exist.

· The Principle of Change: Understanding the I Ching by Jung Young Lee. New Hyde Park, New York: University Books, 1971.

 

2. The Book of History (Shu Ching): The Shoo King, or the Book of Historical Documents, In the Chinese Classics, translated by James Legge. Reprint by The University of Hong Kong, 1949. v.3.

 

3. The Book of Poetry (Shih Ching): The She King, or the book of Poetry, In the Chinese Classics, translated by James Legge. Reprint by The University of Hong Kong, 1949. v. 4. Different versions by William Jennings, Arthur Waley, Ezra Pound.

 

4. The Spring and Autumn (Ch'un Ch'iu): The Ch'un ts'ew with the Tso Chuan, In the Chinese Classics, translated by James Legge. Reprint by The University of Hong Kong,1949. v. 5.

 

5. The Book of Rites (Li Chi): The Li Chi, or the Book of Rites: An Encyclopedia of Ancient Ceremonial Usages, Religious Creeds, and Social Institutions, translated by James Legge. Edited with an introduction and study guide by Ch'u Chai and Winberg Chai. New Hyde Park, New York: University Books, 1967. 2v

 

 

Other Confucian Books:

There are many other books written by Confucians, including Chu Hsi and Wang Yang-Ming.

 

· Reflections on things at hand; the Neo-Confucian anthology compiled by Chu Hsi and Lu Tsu-ch'ien, translated, with notes by Wing-tsit Chan. New York: Columbia University Press, 1967.

 

· Instructions for practical living and other Neo-Confucian writings by Wang Yang-ming. Translated with notes by Wing-tsit Chan. New York: Columbia University Press, 1963.

 

 

Further Readings:

· de Bary, WM.Theodore. Asian Values and Human Rights. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1998.

· Confucianism and Human Rights, edited by WM. Theodore de Bary and Weiming Tu. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997.

· Sources of Chinese Tradition, edited by WM. Theodore de Bary and others. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997.

· Waiting for the Dawn, by Huang Tsung-hsi, translated by WM.Theodore de Bary. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.

· The Trouble with Confucianism. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1991.

· Learning for One's Self. New York: Columbia University Press, 1991.

· Neo-Confucian Education. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989.

· The Message of the Mind in Neo-Confucianism. New York: Columbia University Press, 1989.

· East Asian Civililzations. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1988.

· The Rise of Neo-Confucianism in Korea. New York: Columbia University Press, 1985.

· The Liberal Tradition in China. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press; New York: Columbia University Press, 1983.

· Yuan Thought. New York: Columbia University Press, 1982.

· Neo-Confucian Orthodoxy and The Learning of the Mind. New York: Columbia University Press, 1981.

· Self and Society in Ming Thought. New York: Columbia University Press, 1970.

· Principle and Practicality. New York: Columbia University Press, 1979.

· Tu,Weiming. Neo-Confucian Thought in Action: Wang Yang-ming's Youth (1472-1509). Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976.

· Centrality and Commonality: An Essay on Chung-yung. Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii, 1976.

· Traditional China. Edited by James T.C. Liu and Wei-Ming Tu. Englewood Cliffs, N. J., Prentice-Hall, 1970.

· Humanity and Self-Cultivation: Essays in Confucian Thought. Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press, 1979.

· Confucian Thought: Selfhood as Creative Transformation. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1979.

· Confucian Ethics Today: The Singapore Challenge. Singapore: Curriculum Development Institute of Singapore: Federal Publications, 1984.

· Way, Learning, and Politics: Essays on the Confucian Intellectual. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993.

· The Triadic Chord: Confucian Ethics, Industrial East Asia, by Singapore Conference on Confucian Ethics and the Modernizaton of Industrial East Asia (1987), edited by Wei-Ming Tu. Singapore: Institute of East Asian Philosophies, 1991.

· Confucian Traditions in East Asian Modernity: Moral Education and Economic Culture in Japan and the Four Mini-Dragons, edited by Wei-Ming Tu. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1996.

· Confucianism and Human Rights, edited by WM. Theodore de Bary and Tu Weiming. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997.

· Confucianism and Christianity by Julia Ching. Tokyo, and New York: Kodansha International, 1977.

· China and Europe: Intellectual and Critic Contacts in the Eighteenth Century, by Adolf Reichwein. London: Routledge & Paul, 1968(1925).

· Leibniz and Confucianism: The Search for Accord by David E. Mungello. Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii, 1977.

· The Cultivation of Sagehood as a Religious Goal in Neo-Confucianism by Leon Rodney Taylor. Missoula, Mont.:Scholars Press, 1978.

· The Confucian Way of Contemplation: Okada Takehiko and the Tradition of Quiet-sitting by Rodney L Taylor. South Carolina Press, 1988.

· China Moulded by Confucius by F. T. Cheng. Westport, Conn.: Hyperion Press, 1973.

· Light from the East: Studies in Japanese Confucianism by Robert C. Armstrong. Toronto: University of Toronto, 1914.

· Confucian Thought: Selfhood as Creative Transformation by Wei-Ming Tu. Albany, N.W.: State University of New York Press, 1985.