Hey /lit/,
How many of you actually read any Chinese philosophical works?
Personally I've read all of the "major" works, but I'm curious what you guys read?
>>7594878
I have read a number of Chinese Chan/Zen texts such as the Zen Teaching of Huang Po and Taoist texts.
I've read Spring and Autumn Annals, Journey to the West, and Mao's Red Book
>>7594878
I have read the Annals of Confucius and Sun Tzu's The Art of War. I plan on getting more in depth into Chinese and Eastern philosophy though.
>>7594907
what translators of those texts just to ask.
Should I read the I Ching or is it just literal nonsense?
>>7594878
I've read the annals and art of war with notes, lao tzu without notes, Mo tzu, and a smattering of buddhist people who i don't remember at all, obviously they did not leave an impression.
>>7595022
Usually either Blofeld or Bloom.
>>7595051
Not Bloom sorry, I meant Red Pine. I was thinking about Bloom.
Rumble with the Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy - Ivanhoe & Van Norden
>>7595049
>They did not leave an impression
Why didn't you like them?
>>7595065
Red Pine is meh in my opinion.
He is a "okay" translator, but much better translators exist.
>>7594878
What constitutes all the "major" works? I assume you're just referring to a very narrow slice of classical Chinese philosophy, because all the "major" works extending from the Yi Jing through Wang Bi, Cheng Xuanying, Zhu Xi, Wang Yangming, all the way to Mao, well that's probably like 3 times the size of the entire Western philosophical tradition, so that's a lot of reading, 90% of which is untranslated.
>>7594878
Chan and Tao philosophy, and by extension Zen philosophy (though obviously not chinese) is very interesting. I have read shobogenzo, the zen teachings of bodhidharma, the platform sutra, tao te ching, art of war, the diamond sutra, the annals of confucious, and the gateless gate.
>>7595035
The I Ching is an Oracle, not a book. Doesn't really make sense to "read" it.
>>7595758
Read zhuangzi
>>7595473
This. I'm intrigued.
>>7595896
I mean, most people read, say, Yijing, Laozi, Confucius, and Zhuangzi, maybe some Mencius, and they think they've somehow read some portion of Chinese philosophy. That's like reading Aristotle's Ethics, Plato's Apology, and then Lucretius, and saying you've read a good portion of Western philosophy. Chinese philosophy does not end in the 5th century BC. It starts there.
Following it there is the early development of Daoism in the Huang-Lao tradition of the Qin and Han, then the abstruse metaphysics of Xuanxue after the fall of the Han, massive influx of Buddhist materials beginning in the second century, apocalyptic Daoist peasant communities, aristocratic high-brow stuff of the Shangqing - all during the northern and southern dynasties. Then Sui reunification and huge amounts of Buddho-Daoist syncretism during the Tang (ex. Chongxuan school, where Daoist metaphysics meets Madhyamaka), Neoconfucian revival of the Song dynasty, then the Mongols bring in a massive influx of esoteric Buddhism from Tibet during the Yuan. Ming dynasty's got Wang Yangming and the evolution of the Neoconfucian tradition, further syncretism of the three teachings (Daoism, Buddhism, Confucianism), proliferation of Daoist alchemical and philosophical literature, birth of Dragon Gate, then the Qing starts, development of esoteric societies with their own systems of highly developed metaphysics (whether Daoist, Buddhist, or Islamic), in comes the West, campaigns of modernization, Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang reading western political philosophy, birth of Chinese communist party - Confucian Marx, 20th century, followers of Bertrand Russel, Mou Zongsan and Chinese Hegelianism.
That's just skimming the surface.
>>7596407
I know... I meant I would be intrigued to hear how much OP's read.
To be fair, though, OP didn't say they'd read 'a good portion', just 'all the "major"' ones. Lot of room for interpretation there.
>>7596407
>all this interesting stuff
>tfw will never had the time, let alone motivation, to read all of it even if it were translated
My small inclination to learn Chinese is getting really appealing though.
