The summation of more than 2,000 years of one of the world's most august literary traditions, this volume also represents the achievements of 300 years of Western scholarship on China. The selections include poetry, drama, fiction, songs, biographies, and works of early Chinese philosophy and history, rendered in English by the most renowned translators of classical Chinese literature: Arthur Waley, David Hawkes, James Legge, Ezra Pound, Burton Watson, Stephen Owen, Cyril Birch, A. C. Graham, Kenneth Rexroth, and others.
Bibliographies, explanatory notes, copious illustrations, a chronology of major dynasties, and two-way romanization tables coordinating the Wade-Giles and Pinyin transliteration systems provide helpful tools to aid students, teachers, and general readers in exploring this rich tradition of literature.