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Title: Yuan Dao : Tracing Dao to Its Source by D.C. Lau, Roger T. Ames ISBN: 0-345-42568-5 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 13 July, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (4 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Invaluable to follwers of Daoism
Comment: There are no real faults with this book. The Introduction is interesting. An essential book for those seriously interested in the Daoist Perspective.
Rating: 5
Summary: Another vital fragment of the Huainanzi
Comment: This book joins John Major's 1993 "Heaven and Earth in Early Han Thought," edited (interestingly enough) by Roger Ames, in translating another portion of the Huai nan zi corpus. According to the translators, Yuan Dao comprises the opening treatise of the Huai nan zi, itself an important record of early Chinese astronomy, meteorology and cosmology, of which Major has previously translated the most relevant portions.
As others have stated, the authors' introduction comprises about one third of the book, and it is an insightful discussion of some of the cultural and literary forces that shaped early Han cosmology and culture. The context provided by this essay can deepen anyone's study of traditional Chinese culture and history.
Like the Dao de jing, Yuan Dao comes down to us in terms that sound at times naturalistic, at times political. Yet, it is essential to remember, much as the authors suggest in their discussion of the concepts of qi and heart-and-mind, that philosophy, natural history, politics, strategy, medicine, literature and other traditional Chinese pursuits were not conceived of as distinct pursuits by the Chinese. Accordingly, much of early Chinese literature addresses many apparently distinct subjects simultaneously. In Yuan Dao, Lau and Ames have thoughtfully provided us with additional ways to get at the many meanings of this literature.
Rating: 5
Summary: An excellent translation of a very important document
Comment: In my opinion, this document is of equal standing with the Chuang-Tzu and the Lieh-Tzu in importance, and as a compilation of thought, in a way more important as these documents as an overview of Taoist thought.
Having read a more obscure translation earler, I found this translation to be delightfully accessible and clear. There are excellent notes, summaries, explanations, and histories to compliment the document. I wish they had been present in the earlier translation I had dug up.
After reading the Tao Te Ching, read this before moving on to the Chuang-Tzu, Lieh-Tzu, or any other Taoist document. It's worth it - and in the spirit of Lao-Tzu, not too long or wordy.
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Title: Dao De Jing : A Philosophical Translation by Laozi, Roger T. Ames, David L. Hall ISBN: 0345444159 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 01 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: Thinking from the Han: Self, Truth, and Transcendence in Chinese and Western Culture by David L. Hall, Roger T. Ames ISBN: 0791436144 Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr Pub. Date: February, 1998 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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Title: Focusing the Familiar: A Translation and Philosophical Interpretation of the Zhongyong by Roger T. Ames, David L. Hall ISBN: 0824824601 Publisher: University of Hawaii Press Pub. Date: August, 2001 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: The Analects of Confucius : A Philosophical Translation by Roger T. Ames ISBN: 0345434072 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 07 September, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: A Daoist Theory of Chinese Thought: A Philosophical Interpretation by Chad D. Hansen ISBN: 0195134192 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: September, 2000 List Price(USD): $27.50 |
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