Students who want to read Chinese history, philosophy, and literature must first master the difficult language of literary Chinese, or Wenyan. The dense poetic language of ancient China is often deliberately ambiguous to the point that Chinese scholars need commentaries to understand the. This introduction presents the structure of literary Chinese including grammar, basic vocabulary, cultural notes, translations and exercise. Professor Faurot has used interesting, original text in the lessons, including: poems by Du Fu, Li Bai, Wang Wei, and Li Qingzhao; selections from influential philosophers Lao Zi, Confucius, and Mencius; passages from Sun Zi s Art of War and Sima Qian s Record of the Historian. GATEWAY TO CHINESE CLASSICS is intended for self-study or classroom use. Upon finishing this book, students will be ready to venture (with a good dictionary) on their own into other classical works.
