"Selections from Classical Chinese: Historical Texts" aims to instruct, inform, and inspire students of Chinese by presenting selected historical texts and their annotations. Taken from the seminal works known as the Four Histories, the fourteen included texts offer insights into the political, social, economic, and cultural aspects of China over a long period of time. The comprehensive annotations provide full pronunciation in pinyin, the grammatical function of individual words, and a full explication of the texts.

One of the supplementary readings to "Classical Chinese: A Basic Reader," this volume includes eight selections from the "Shi Ji" and two each from the "Han Shu," the "Hou Han Shu," and the "San Guo Zhi." Each unfolds a fascinating account of the historical events and figures that represent certain salient values or distinctive cultural characteristics of what has come to be the Chinese tradition.

The "Shi Ji," a grand history by Sima Qian chronicling three thousand years of Chinese history, is divided into five sections of 130 chapters. Sima Qian is especially noted for his biographical style, and his work is considered the first and only "universal history" of China. The "Han Shu," by Ban Gu, recounts the history of a single dynasty and is known for its dynastic style in depicting history. Together, these two histories represent paradigms of Chinese historiography. The "Hou Han Shu," by Fan Ye, and the "San Guo Zhi," by Chen Shou, continue this tradition of excellence. These four works are known collectively as the "Four Histories."

All texts are fully annotated to include a pinyin version marking the pronunciation of each word, glosses of each word by grammatical function and its meaning in the text, as well as detailed explication of each word. The exercises at the end of each selection are intended to help students apply newly gained knowledge, better appreciate Chinese history, and stimulate interest in additional reading.

"Classical Chinese: Selections from Philosophical Texts" continues the rigorous standard set forth in the main, three-volume "Classical Chinese: A Basic Reader." Organized into four sections, this supplementary volume sets forth the key concepts and writings of Confucius, Mencius, Laozi, and Zhuangzi-providing key insight into their beliefs and literary styles. The beauty of these original texts and the insightful annotations that accompany them will provide students of Chinese with a glimpse into the fountainhead of China's intellectual tradition.

The main text and its four supplementary volumes together represent the most comprehensive and authoritative textbook on the language, literature, philosophy, history, and religion of premodern China. Rigorously and extensively field-tested and fine-tuned for years in classroom settings by three members of the Chinese Linguistics Project at Princeton University, it sets a new standard for the field. With "Classical Chinese: A Basic Reader" and its supplementary volumes, Naiying Yuan, Haitao Tang, and James Geiss provide the definitive new resource for students and instructors of classical Chinese language and culture, one whose impact will be lasting.

This supplemental volume continues the rigorous standard set forth in the main, three-volume "Classical Chinese: A Basic Reader" while reinforcing its linguistic lessons from carefully chosen representative works. Comprised of three parts--"Poetry," "Lyrics," and "Prose"--it presents texts, chronologically, that represent the artistic embodiment of China's Confucian and Taoist thought. Two introductions separately describe the structural and formal features of regulated verse and parallel prose; each genre is unique to Chinese literature yet both share common characteristics tempered by the Chinese language.

The main text and its four supplementary volumes together represent the most comprehensive and authoritative textbook on the language, literature, philosophy, history, and religion of premodern China. Field-tested and fine-tuned for years in classroom settings by three members of the Chinese Linguistics Project at Princeton University, it is the definitive new resource for students and instructors of classical Chinese language or culture.

Classical Chinese is the most comprehensive and authoritative textbook on the language, literature, philosophy, history, and religion of premodern China. Rigorously and extensively field-tested and fine-tuned for years in classroom settings, it sets a new standard for the field. Originally published in three volumes, Classical Chinese appears here in one convenient and easy-to-use volume. Classical Chinese contains forty selections from texts written between the fifth century BC and the first century AD, during which the classical Chinese language was fully developed and standardized. These passages, which express key themes in Chinese humor, wit, wisdom, moral conviction, and political ideals, are arranged in the order of complexity of the grammatical patterns they exemplify. Uniquely, each text is translated into both modern Chinese and English. A detailed glossary defines unfamiliar terms and names found in the first part of the textbook, and the last section features in-depth grammatical analyses, in which every sentence in the main selections is fully diagrammed to show the grammatical relations between their various parts. Corresponding exercises review and reinforce the materials. Four supplementary volumes--an introduction to grammar, readings in poetry and prose, selected historical texts, and selected philosophical texts--are separately available for use in conjunction with this basic reader. Classical Chinese provides a definitive resource for students and instructors of classical Chinese language and culture.