Early Chinese Political Thought
Selected Readings
A Bibliography of Key Readings
General Texts
Bai, Tongdong. 2012. China: The Political Philosophy of the Middle Kingdom. New York: Zed Books.
Cua, Antonio S., ed. 2003. Encyclopedia of Chinese Philosophy. New York: Routledge.
Creel, Herrlee G. 1953. Chinese Thought: From Confucius to Mao Tse-tung. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Fung Yu-lan. [1949] 1976. A Short History of Chinese Philosophy: A Systematic Account of Chinese Thought From Its Origins to the Present Day. Derk Bodde, ed. New York: The Free Press.
Goldin, Paul R. 2020. The Art of Chinese Philosophy: Eight Classic Texts and How to Read Them. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Graham, A.C. 1991. Disputers of the Tao: Philosophical Argument in Ancient China. La Salle, IL: Open Court.
Kim, Youngmin. 2018. A History of Chinese Political Thought. Medford, MA: Polity.
Loewe, Michael. 1993. Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide. Berkeley, CA: The Society for the Study of Early China and the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley.
Moore, Charles A., ed. 1967. The Chinese Mind: Essentials of Chinese Philosophy and Culture. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.
Mou, Bo. 2009. Chinese Philosophy A-Z. Edinburgh, Scotland: Edinburgh University Press.
Schwartz, Benjamin I. 1985. The World of Thought in Ancient China. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Tao Jiang. Origins of Moral-Political Philosophy in Early China. New York: Oxford University Press. 2021.
Van Norden, Bryan W. 2011. Introduction to Classical Chinese Philosophy. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company.
Waley, Arthur. 1939. Three Ways of Thought in Ancient China. London: George Allen & Unwin, Ltd.
Wu, Yi. 1986. Chinese Philosophical Terms. San Bruno, CA: Great Learning Publishing Company.
Zhang Dainian. 2002. Key Concepts in Chinese Philosophy. Edmund Ryden, ed. and trans. New Haven, CT: Yale University and Foreign Languages Press.
Translations and Commentaries
Collections
Chan, Wing-tsit, trans. and comp. 1963. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Chang, Leo S. and Yu Feng. 1998. The Four Political Treatises of the Yellow Emperor: Monographs of the Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy, no. 15. Honolulu: The University of Hawai’i Press.
Cook, Constance A. & Paul R. Goldin, eds. 2020. A Sourcebook of Ancient Chinese Bronze Inscriptions. Berkley, California: The Society for the Study of Early China.
Cook, Scott. 2012. The Bamboo Texts of Guodian: A Study and Complete Translation I. Ithaca, NY: East Asia Program of Cornell University.
~ 2012. The Bamboo Texts of Guodian: A Study and Complete Translation II. Ithaca, NY: East Asia Program of Cornell University.
Csikszentmihalyi, Mark, ed. and trans. 2016. Readings in Han Chinese Thought. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing.
Legge, James. [1891] 1962.The Texts of Taoism: The Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu, The Writings of Chuang Tzu: (Part I) The Sacred Books of China. New York: Dover Publications.
~ [1891] 1962. The Texts of Taoism: The T’ai Shang Tractate, The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Part II): The Sacred Books of China. New York: Dover Publications.
Pang-White, Ann A., trans. 2018. The Confucian Four Books for Women: A New Translation of the Nu Sishu and the Commentary of Wang Xiang. New York: Oxford University Press.
Sawyer, Ralph D., trans. with Mei-chun Sawyer. 1993. The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China: Including The Art of War. New York: Basic Books.
Tiwald, Justin and Bryan W. Van Norden, eds. 2014. Readings in Later Chinese Philosophy: Han Dynasty to the 20th Century. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing.
Yates, Robin D.S., trans. 1997. Five Lost Classics: Tao, Huanglao, and Yin-Yang in Han China. New York: Ballentine Books.
Baijhu Tong: Discussions of the White Tiger Hall
Compiled by Ban Gu c. 1st Century CE
Tjan Tjoe Sum, trans. 1949. Po Hu T’ung: The Comprehensive Discussions in the White Tiger Hall: Volume One. Leiden: E.J. Brill.
~ 1952. Po Hu T’ung: The Comprehensive Discussions in the White Tiger Hall: Volume Two:. Leiden: E.J. Brill.
Chuci / Songs of Chu / Songs of the South
Attributed to Qu Yuan and Song Yu c. 3rd Century BCE and later
Hawkes, David. 1985. The Songs of the South: An Ancient Chinese Anthology of Poems by Qu Yuan and Other Poets. New York: Penguin Classics.
Chunqui Fanlu / Luxuriant Gems of the Spring and Autumn.
Attributed to Dong Zhongshu c. 2nd Century BCE
Queen, Sarah A. and John S. Major, ed. and trans. Luxuriant Gems of the Spring and Autumn. New York: Columbia University Press.
Chunqiu Zuozhuan / The Zuo Tradition of the Spring and Autumn Annals
Attributed to Zuo Qiuming c. 4th Century BCE
Durrant, Stephen, Wai-yee Li, and David Schaberg, trans. 2020. The Zuo Tradition/Zuozhuan Reader: Selections from China’s Earliest Narrative History. Seattle: University of Washington.
Legge, James, trans. [1872.] 2007. Chunqiu Zuo Zhuan. Andrew Miller, transliteration. Institution for Advanced Technology in the Humanities. University of Virginia.
Guanzi
Attributed to Guanzi (Guan Zhong) c. 8th Century BCE
Associated with the Jixia Academy of Qi c. 4th Century BCE
Rickett, W. Allyn. 2001. Guanzi: Political, Economic, and Philosophical Essays from Early China: Volume I. Boston, MA: Cheng & Tsui Company.
~ 1998. Guanzi: Political, Economic, and Philosophical Essays from Early China: Volume II. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Han Fei Zi
Attributed to Han Fei Zi (Han Fei) c. 3rd Century BCE
Liao, W.K., trans. [1939] 2015. Han Fei Zi I. Zhang Jue trans. parallel modern Chinese. Beijing: The Commercial Press.
~ [1939] 2015. Han Fei Zi II. Zhang Jue trans. parallel modern Chinese. Beijing: The Commercial Press.
~ [1939] 2015. Han Fei Zi III. Zhang Jue trans. parallel modern Chinese. Beijing: The Commercial Press.
~ [1939] 2015. Han Fei Zi IV. Zhang Jue trans. parallel modern Chinese. Beijing: The Commercial Press.
Hanshu / The Book of Han (History of the Former Han)
Ban Gu with Ban Zhao c. 111 CE
Wang Zhiguang, trans. 2015. Chronicles of the Han Dynasty I. An Pingqiu and Zhang Chuanxi, eds. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press.
~2015. Chronicles of the Han Dynasty II. An Pingqiu and Zhang Chuanxi, eds. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press.
Watson, Burton, trans. 1974. Courtier and Commoner in Ancient China: Selections from the History of the Former Han by Pan Ku. New York: Columbia University Press.
Heguanzi / The Pheasant Cap Master
Attributed to Heguanzi c. Late Zhou to Early Han Dynasties
Defoort, Carine. 1996. The Pheasant Cap Master: A Rhetorical Reading. Albany: State University of New York Press.
~ 2015. “Pheasant Cap Master.” in Dao Companion to Daoist Philosophy, Xiaogan Liu, ed. New York: Springer.
Wells, Marnix. 2013. The Pheasant Cap Master and the End of History: Linking Religion to Philosophy in Early China. St. Petersburg, FL: Three Pines Press.
Huainanzi
Attributed to Liu An c. 139 BCE
Major, John S., Sarah A. Queen, Andrew Seth Meyer, and Harold D. Roth, ed. and trans. 2010. The Huainanzi: A Guide to the Theory and Practice of Government in Early Han China. New York: Columbia University Press.
Laozi / Daodejing / Classic of the Way and Virtue
Attributed to Laozi (Lao Er) c. 4th Century BCE
Ames, Roger T. and David L. Hall, trans. 2003. A Philosophical Translation: Dao De Jing: “Making This Life Significant”: Featuring the Recently Discovered Bamboo Texts. New York: Ballentine Books.
Legge, James, trans. 2021 (1891). Dao De Jing. The Chinese Texts Project.
Wagner, Rudolf G., trans. 2003. A Chinese Reading of the Daodejing: Wang Bi’s Commentary on the Laozi with Critical Text and Translation. Albany: State University of New York.
Liezi
Attributed to Liezi (Lie Yukuo) c. 4th Century BCE
Giles, Lionel, trans. 1912. The Book of Lieh-Tzu. London: J. Murray.
Graham, A.C., trans. [1960] 1990. The Book of Lieh-tzu: A Classic of Tao. New York: Columbia University Press.
Liji / Book of Rites
c. Zhou Dynasty
Legge, James, trans. 2013 (1885). The Book of Rites. Chinese Text Project.
Liu Tao / Six Secrets
Attributed to Liu Shang (Jiang Ziyu) c. 475-221 BCE
Sawyer, Ralph D., trans. 1997. The Six Secret Teachings on the Way of Strategy: A Manual from Ancient China in the Tradition of The Art of War. Boston: Shambhala.
Lushi Chunqiu / Luzi’s Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals
Attributed to Lu Buwei c. 239BCE
Sellman, James D. 2002.Timing and Rulership in Master Lu’s Spring and Autumn Annals (Lushi Chunqiu). Albany: State University of New York Press.
Lunyu / The Analects
Attributed to Kongzi (Confucius) c. 5th Century BCE
Chin, Annping, trans. 2014. Confucius: The Analects. New York: Penguin Books.
Huang, Chichung, trans. 1997. The Analects of Confucius. New York: Oxford University Press.
Legge, James, trans. [1893] 1971. Confucius: Confucian Analects, The Great Learning, & The Doctrine of the Mean. New York: Dover Publications.
Mengzi / Mencius
Attrbuted to Mengzi c. 3rd-4th Century BCE
Lau, D.C., trans. [1970] 2004. Mencius. New York: Penguin Books.
Legge, James. [1895] 1970. The Works of Mencius: Translated, with Critical and Exegetical Notes, Prolegomena, and Copious Indexes. New York: Dover Publications.
Van Norden, Bryan, trans. 2008. Mengzi: With Selections From Traditional Commentaries. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing.
Mozi
Attributed to Mozi (Mo Di) c. 5th to 3rd Centuries BCE
Johnston, Ian, trans. 2010. The Mozi: A Complete Translation. New York: Columbia University Press.
Watson, Burton, trans. 1963. Mo Tzu: Basic Writings. New York. Columbia University.
Shan Hai Jing / The Classic of Mountains and Seas
c. 4th Century BCE to 1st Century BCE
Birrell, Anne, trans. 1999. The Classic of Mountains and Seas. New York: Penguin Books.
Shang Jun Shu / The Book of Lord Shang
Attributed to Shang Yang c. 4th Century BCE
Duyvendak, J.L.L., trans. [1928] 2003. The Book of Lord Shang: A Classic of the Chinese School of Law. Clark, NJ: The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.
Pines, Yuri, ed. and trans. 2019.The Book of Lord Shang: Apologetics of State Power in Early China: Abridged Edition. New York: Columbia University Press.
Shenjian / Extended Reflections
Xun Yue c. 3rd Century CE
Ch’en Chi’i-Yun. 1980. Hsun Yueh and the Mind of Late Han China: A Translation of the Shen-chien With Introduction and Annotations. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Shenzi
Attributed to Shenzi (Shen Buhai) c. 4th Century BCE
Creel, Herrlee G., trans. 1974. Shen Pu-Hai: A Chinese Political Philosopher of the Fourth Century BC. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Shenzi
Attributed to Shenzi (Shen Dao) c. 4th or 3rd Century BCE
Harris, Eirik Lang, trans. 2016. The Shenzi Fragments: A Philosophical Analysis and translation. New York: Columbia University Press.
Shiji / Records of the Grand Historian
Sima Qian 91 BCE
Dawson, Raymond, trans. 1994. Historical Records. New York: Oxford University Press.
Watson, Burton, trans. [1961] 1993. Records of the Grand Historian. New York: Columbia University Press. [In three volumes - Qin Dynasty, Han Dynasty I, and Han Dynasty II]
Shijing / Classic of Poetry / Classic of Songs / Classic of Odes
c. 11th to 7th Centuries BCE
Kim, Ha Poong, trans. Joy and Sorrow: Songs of Ancient China: A New Translation of Shi Jing Guo Feng. Chicago: Sussex Academic Press.
Waley, Arthur, trans. 1996. The Book of Songs (Shijing): The Ancient Chinese Classic of Poetry. New York: Grove Press.
Shizi
Shi Jiao c. 4th Century BCE
Fischer, Paul, trans. 2012. Shizi: China’s First Syncretist. New York: Columbia University Press.
Shuoyuan / The Garden of Eloquence
Compiled by Liu Xiang c. 1st Century CE
Henry, Eric, trans. 2021. Garden of Eloquence: Shuoyuan. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Shujing / Classic of History (Shangshu / Venerated Documents)
Attributed to Kongzi c. 4th Century BCE
Palmer, Martin, trans. 2014. The Most Venerable Book (Shang Shu). New York: Penguin Classics.
Wuxing / The Five Aspects of Conduct
c. 300 BCE
Holloway, Kenneth W., trans. 2009 Guodian: The Newly Discovered Seeds of Chinese Religious and Political Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press.
Xiaojing / The Book of Filial Piety
Attributed to Kongzi c. 4th Century BCE
Barnhart, Richard M., ed. 1993. Li Kung-lin’s Classic of Filial Piety. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Legge, James, trans. 2021 (1861). Xiao Jing (The Book of Filial Piety). The Chinese Texts Projects.
Rosemont, Henry, Jr. and Roger T. Ames., trans. 2009. The Chinese Classic of Family Reverence: A Philosophical Translation of the Xiaojing. Honolulu: The University of Hawai’i Press.
Xinian / String of Years
Pines, Yuri, trans. 2020. Zhou History Unearthed: The Bamboo Manuscript Xinian and Early Chinese Historiography. New York: Columbia University Press.
Xinyu / New Discourses
Lu Jia c. 2nd Century BCE
Goldin, Paul R. and Elisa Levi Sabattini. 2020. Lu Jia’s New Discourses: A Political Manifesto from the Early Han Dynasty. Boston: Brill.
Xunzi
Hutton, Eric L., trans. 2014. Xunzi: The Complete Text. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Watson, Burton, trans. 2003. Xunzi: Basic Writings. New York: Columbia University Press.
Yan Tie Lun / Discourses on Salt and Iron
81 BCE
Gale, Esson M., trans. [1931] 2019. Discourses on Salt and Iron: A Debate on State Control of Commerce and Industry in Ancient China: Translated from the Chinese of Huan K’uan with Introduction and Notes. Taipei, Taiwan: Cheng Wen Publishing Company, Ltd.
Yanzi Chunqiu / Spring and Autumn Annals of Yanzi
c. 6th Century BCE
Milburn, Olivia, trans. 2015. The Spring and Autumn Annuals of Master Yan. Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill.
Yi Zhou Shu / Lost Books of Zhou
c. 4th or 3rd Century BCE
McNeal, Robin. 2012. Conquer and Govern: Early Chinese Military Texts from the Yizhou Shu. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.
Zhan Guo Ce / Annals of the Warring States
Associated with the School of Diplomacy
Crump, J.I., trans. 1970. Chan-Kuo Ts’e. Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies of the University of Michigan.
~ 1992. Legends of the Warring States: Persuasions, Romances, and Stories from Chan-kuo Ts’e. Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies of the University of Michigan.
Zhongyong / The Doctrine of the Mean
Attributed to Zizi (Kong Ji) c. 5th Century BCE
Ames, Roger T. and David L. Hall. 2001 Focusing the Familiar: A Translation and Philosophical Interpretation of the Zhongyong. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.
Zhuangzi
Attributed to Zhuangzi (Zhuang Zhou) c. 3rd Century BCE
Kjellberg, Paul and Philip J. Ivanhoe, eds. 1996. Essays on Skepticism, Relativism, and Ethics in the Zhuangzi. Albany: State University of New York.
Watson, Burton, trans. 2003. Zhuangzi: Basic Writings. New York: Columbia University Press.
~ [1968] 2013. The Complete Works of Zhuangzi. New York: Columbia University Press.
Other Valuable Works
Allan, Sarah. 2007. “On the Identity of Shang Di and the Origin of the Concept of a Celestial Mandate (Tian Ming).” Early China. 31: 1-46.
~ 2012. “On Shu (Documents) and the Origin of the Shang Shu (Ancient Documents) in Light of Recently Discovered Bamboo Slip Manuscripts.” Bulletin of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 75/3: 547-557.
Boltz, William G. 2012/2013. “Hand-Writing Styles in Early Chinese Manuscripts.” Manuscript Cultures. 5: 76-83.
Chen Kunlong, Thilo Rehren, Mei Jianjun, & Zhao Congcang. 2009. “Special alloys from remote frontiers of the Shang Kingdom: Scientific study of the Hanzhong Bronzes form Southwest Shaanxi, China.” Journal of Archaeological Science. 36/10: 2108-2118.
Creel, Herrlee G. 1970. Origins of Statecraft in China: Volume One: The Western Chou Empire. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Ding Sixin. 2011. “A Study on the Dating of the Mozi Dialogues and the Mohist View of Ghosts and Spirits.” Contemporary Chinese Thought. 42/4: 39-87.
Dubs, Homer H. 1938. “The Victory of Han Confucianism.” Journal of the American Oriental Society.” 58/3: 435-449.
Fischer, Markus. 2012. “The Book of Lord Shang Compared with Machiavelli and Hobbes.” Dao. 11: 201-221.
Fraser, Chris. 2011. “Knowledge and Error in Early Chinese Thought.” Dao. 10: 127-148.
Fu, Zhengyuan. 1996. China’s Legalists: The Earliest Totalitarians and their Art of Ruling. New York. M.E. Sharpe.
Graham, A.C. [1978] 2003. Later Mohist Logic, Ethics and Science. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press.
Habberstad, Luke. 2017. Forming the Early Chinese Court: Rituals, Spaces, Roles. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Hu Zhihong and Huang Deyuan. 2008. “The Obscuration and Rediscovery of the Original Confucian Thought of Moral Politics: Deciphering the Work on the Guodian, Shangbo and the transmitted versions of Ziyi.” Frontiers of Philosophy in China. 3/4: 535-557.
Hui, Victoria Tin-bor. 2011. War and State Formation in Ancient China and Early Modern Europe. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Ing, Michael D.K. 2016. “Philosophy in Western Han Dynasty China (206 BCE-9 CE).” Philosophy Compass. 11/6: 289-304.
Ivanhoe, Philip J. 2011. “Hanfeizi and Moral Self-Cultivation.” Journal of Chinese Philosophy. 38/1: 31-45.
Kern, Martin, ed. 2005. Text and Ritual in Early China. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Komjathy, Louis. 2003. “Daoist Texts in Translation.” Centre for Daoist Studies.
Lau, D.C. 1953. “Theories of Human Nature in Mencius and Shyuntzyy.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 15/3: 541-565.
Lewis, Mark Edward. 1990. Sanctioned Violence in Early China. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Lewis, Mark Edward. 1999. Writing and Authority in Early China. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Liang, Tao and Ian M. Sullivan. 2010. “Political Thought in Early Confucianism.” Frontiers of Philosophy in China. 5/2: 212-236.
McCurley, Dallas. 2005. “Performing Patterns: Numinous Relations in Shang and Zhou.” The Drama Review. 49/3: 135-156.
McLeod, Alexus. 2015. “Philosophy in Eastern Han Dynasty China (25-220 CE).” Philosophy Compass. 10/6: 355-368.
Nuyen, A.T. 2013. “The ‘Mandate of Heaven’: Mencius and Divine Command Theory of Political Legitimacy.” 63/2: 113-126.
Pankenier, David W. 1995. “The Cosmo-Political Background of Heaven’s Mandate.” Early China. 20: 121-176.
~ 1998. “The Mandate of Heaven.” Archaeology.” 51/2: 26-34.
Perkins, Franklin. 2008. “The Moist Criticism of the Confucian Use of Fate.” Journal of Chinese Philosophy. 35/3: 421-436.
Pines, Yuri. 2008. “To Rebel is Justified? The Image of Zhouxin and the Legitimacy of Rebellion in the Chinese Political Tradition.” Oriens Extremus. 47: 1-24.
~ 2012. The Everlasting Empire: The Political Culture of Ancient China and Its Imperial Legacy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Shaughnessy, Edward. 1997. Before Confucius: Studies in the Creation of the Chinese Classics. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Scarpari, Maurizio. 2003. “The Debate on Human Nature in Early Confucian Literature.” Philosophy East and West. 53/3: 323-339.
Tang, Paul C.L. 1997. “On the Special Logic Thesis in Chinese Philosophy.” Metaphilosophy. 28/4: 371-384.
Ting Wei-Chih. 1979. “Phases of Change in Confucianism.” Cina. Supplmento No. 2 XXVIth Conference of Chinese Studies Proceedings: 50-65.
Twiss, Sumner B. and Jonathan Chan. 2012. “The Classical Confucian Position on the Legitimate Use of Military Force.” The Journal of Religious Ethics. 40/3: 447-472.
Van Norden, Bryan W. 2017. “Western Philosophy is Racist.” Aeon.
Wakeman, Jr., Frederick. 1977. “Rebellion and Revolution: The Study of Popular Movements in Chinese History.” The Journal of Asian Studies. 36/2: 201-237.
Wang, Robin R. 2012. Yinyang: The Way of Heaven and Earth in Chinese Thought and Culture. New York: Cambridge.