Ta Hsueh and Chung Yung: (The Highest Order of Cultivation and On the Practice of the Mean) (Penguin Classics)

Having read the Analytics and Mencius, I was excited to discover that Penguin Classics has a recent, modern translation of the Ta Hsüeh and Chung Yung -- the two other central texts in the 'canon' of Confucian thought, the so-called 'Four Books' (Ta Hsüeh is more widely known as 'Great Learning' and Chung Yung is more commonly called 'Doctrine of the Mean').

This is a very modern translation. In his introductory notes, translator Andrew Plaks writes, "I frequently allow myself considerable leeway in my formulations, for example, inserting additional words to convey loaded Chinese concepts, or combining Chinese stylistic redundancies into single propositions where I feel this is how a given idea would normally be expressed in English." show more (xxxvi)

The result of Plak's approach is two sided. On one hand, the idiomatic and so-called dynamic equivalence often reads like a paraphrase. Of course, I do not know any Chinese whatsoever, so describing it as 'paraphrase' is wholly assumptive on my part, but the contemporary syntax and terms often left me speculating at the age old question: is there really a difference between translation and interpretation? This translation "feels" anachronistic at times, almost as if the second century BCE text had been run through an algorithm Western psychology.

Granting this ambiguity, the translation itself is beautiful to read, and extremely accessible. Plak's insertions give people like me -- armchair classicists and weekend Sinophiles -- a terrific tour of these texts. For readers of the Analytics and Mencius, this is a treat indeed. The greatest value in this translation will probably be found by general readers and students just beginning Chinese or Confucian studies. show less

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1387316.html

This is the Penguin edition of two of the Four Books of Confucian learning, their titles respectively translated as The Highest Order of Cultivation and On the Practice of the Mean. It is a bit of a shame that Penguin chose to stick to the old Wade-Giles transliteration; in the pin-yin more often used today the titles are Daxue and Zhongyong. (Or to be pedantic, 大學 and 中庸.) Although the two books are mercifully short, I found their conservative, paternalistic world view unappealing; a society built on this philosophy could easily become stagnated. I don't have much knowledge of China, and this was probably not a good place to start broadening it.