Coming at the end of the great flowering of philosophical inquiry in Warring States China, when the foundations for traditional Chinese thought were laid, Xunzi occupies a place analogous to that of Aristotle in the West. The collection of works bearing his name contains not only the most systematic philosophical exposition by any early Confucian thinker, but also account of virtually every aspect of the intellectual, cultural, and social life of his time. Xunzi was a social critic and intellectual historian as well as a philosopher. He was also extremely active in the political and academic circles of his day, and his teaching had a great influence on the initial institutional organization of a unified China under the first Qin emperor, an influence that continued (though often unacknowledged) through later centuries. This is the first of three volumes that will constitute the first complete translation of Xunzi into English. The present volume consists of a general introduction and Books 1-6, dealing with self-cultivation, learning, and education. The translation is accompanied by substantial explanatory material identifying technical terms, persons, and events; detailed introductions to each book; and extensive annotation, with characters when desirable, indicating the basis of the translations. The general introduction recounts the biography of Xunzi, his later influence, the intellectual world in which he lived, and the basic terms that the ancient Chinese used to conceptualize nature and society.

This is the first complete English translation of "Lushi chunqiu," compiled in 239 b. c. under the patronage of Lu Buwei, prime minister to the ruler of the state of Qin, who was to become the first emperor of a newly unified China fifteen years later. Lu retained a group of scholars whose aim was to encompass the world's knowledge in one great encyclopedia; so delighted was Lu with the finished work that he is said to have offered a fabulous prize of gold to anyone who could add or subtract even a single word.
An exceptionally rich and comprehensive compendium, "The Annals of Lu Buwei" recounts in engaging, straightforward, and readable prose the great variety of beliefs and customs of its time. The work is one of the great monuments of Chinese thinking, a work of originality and cohesion, inspired by a vision of a universal empire ruled by principles that ensured harmony between man and nature, protective of human and animal life, devoted to learning and culture, practicing benevolence and kindness, and motivated by reason and morality.
In addition to revealing an advanced state of technical knowledge, the "Annals" set forth a philosophy of government suitable to the centralized control that the Qin state would subsequently establish. It also took into account every philosophical trend of the day, sometimes adapting themes, sometimes combining ideas that had not previously been associated, sometimes rejecting and refuting positions that were in conflict with its basic vision. Because Lu aimed at comprehensiveness, his work preserved a number of systems of thought that are otherwise unknown or scarcely known. The "Annals" thus provides an essential tool for anyone seeking to reconstruct the philosophical controversies of the third century b. c. At the same time, Lu's compendium proclaims his independent, highly original philosophical positions. Today, with most of the works of classical Chinese philosophy long lost, "The Annals of Lu Buwei" remains indispensable as a summa of the Chinese intellectual world of its time.