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James Legge
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The Chinese Classics: The She king; or, the Book of poetry Kindle Edition

by James Legge (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 4 ratings
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This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for kindle devices. We have endeavoured to create this version as close to the original artefact as possible. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we believe they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.
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  1. Print length
    866 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    HardPress
  5. Publication date
    June 25, 2018
  6. File size
    5180 KB
  7. Page Flip
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  8. Word Wise
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07F1R7CBY
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ HardPress (June 25, 2018)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 25, 2018
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 5180 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 866 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 4 ratings

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James Legge

James Legge

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Customer reviews

5 out of 5 stars
5 out of 5
4 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Elle Jé
5.0 out of 5 stars Chinese classics translated by Legge
Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2014
Verified Purchase
A great collection of books (there are four) translated from the Chinese by J. Legge. The chinese characters are easy to see (nice and big), there are notes and of course Legge's beautiful translation - James Legge, a well-known 19th century Jesuit who spent many years in China.
2 people found this helpful
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Larry Rogers Logographic
5.0 out of 5 stars Like Budge, it's also old-fashioned notes and old-fashioned translation
Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2015
It's unclear to me what book this even is. It says it's 440 pages. Perhaps this is the Legge English-only translation of the entire Book of Poetry? He also did a Chinese-English version for a 7-volume "Chinese Classics" series (785 pages as reprinted in 1960), and there's also on Sacred Texts a selection of the Book of Poetry "as it reflects religion".

Without Chinese text:
https://books.google.com/books?id=93BIAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA268&dq=shih+king+legge&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDUQ6AEwBGoVChMIvaLVqrPkyAIViD8-Ch0sgQlV#v=onepage&q=shih%20king%20legge&f=false

http://fax.libs.uga.edu/PL2478xA5/1f/she_king.pdf

SacredTexts English-only full version
http://www.sacred-texts.com/cfu/bop/index.htm

SacredTexts religious selection
http://www.sacred-texts.com/cfu/sbe03/shih00.htm

With Chinese text:
Part 1 of 2
https://books.google.com/books?id=7Q77t6xnffkC&pg=PA143&lpg=PA143&dq=%22the+first+part+of+the+she-king%22&source=bl&ots=6BbB7aLz3k&sig=Iv3zUFRmdL6jXRhb8rkGJaDmSiA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAGoVChMIubar8cvkyAIVReomCh0ngAvz#v=onepage&q=%22the%20first%20part%20of%20the%20she-king%22&f=false

Part 2 of 2
https://books.google.com/books?id=w7BUAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA427&lpg=PA427&dq=%22fourth+parts+of+the+she-king%22&source=bl&ots=NpMAWTNbfN&sig=twokotsVlKHNW7703Oq5PXtHtms&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAGoVChMI_d7e-s7kyAIVCjk-Ch3AlgcB#v=onepage&q=%22fourth%20parts%20of%20the%20she-king%22&f=false

I suspect that Legge's translation and footnotes are out of date, but not by as much as E A Wallis Budge's Egyptian is out of date. Classical Chinese is a "living" classical language and while the language is said to be archaic, we probably knew in 1870 about as much as we know about what it meant or is thought to have meant. Like Budge, it's also old-fashioned notes and old-fashioned translation, and it's widely available in university libraries around the USA due to the popular 1960 reprinting.

That said, any serious interest in the text should consider - hopefully critically - the modern modern scholarly translations, none of which are likely to be in the public domain.

That said, The Book of Poetry is very famous as one of the 5 Chinese Classics, something like this. These are supposedly allegorical songs from the various Zhou Dynasty kingdoms, some going back to the Shang Dynasty. There's lots of references to the world of the Oracle Bone and Bronze Inscriptions (which I study). It's also notable for lots and lots of chariot terminology, as well as names for various sorts of plants and animals, musical instruments, among some other things. It's poetic stuff, like the Latin "Metamorphoses" and so goes into a descriptive detail and vocabulary level you just wouldn't otherwise see in an ancient text. I have read that Confucius taught it to his disciplines, and I suspect that is in part due to its vocabulary. It's likewise a workout for the Chinese characters, and covers the world in which they were initially created quite well. I doubt any of the other classics are so prosaic. I've only read the Analects.

There's also a lot of really heavy moral material, stressing the importance of marital fidelity, harmony, and fecundity. There's also some mythology and religion. Lots of nature description. Lots of songs of separated spouses missing eachother.

It's quite huge. It uses the Wade-Giles or some earlier phonetic rendering of the Mandarin readings of the characters.

It has a glossary listing all the occuring characters by their traditional radical, like all the other works in this series and works like it by Legge. There is some note made of the most frequent words. There's something of an English index as well, to topics in the songs. There's lots of notes, which give additional Classical Chinese characters.

As always, an English > Classical Chinese glossary would have been nice. Interlinear translation with reconstructed Old Chinese values would have been nice. The characters aren't even so large and clear today as in these works by Legge. Perhaps each character should be numbered, as the traditional character order is a very complicated thing involving 214 random radicals as well as irregulars. Short notes on character etymology would also have been nice, though in 1870 I don't know how much good that would have even been.

He also should have labeled each set of 4 characters, as sometimes it's hard to match up the line of translation to the line of characters. I also find the chapter and verse format of the text to be confusing and difficult.
3 people found this helpful
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"bollocksboy"
5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive study of the Book of Poetry
Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2000
The classic collection of the Book of Poetry or Shi Jing is here presented in a reprint of James Legge's seminal tome. This beatifully presented hardcover contains the original Chinese text, with an English translation, grammatical notes, an introduction to the Shi Jing and a glossary of words in the Chinese text. This volume is a complete study of this the earliest known collection of Chinese poetry. The fact that Legge's works are continually reprinted is testament to the high esteem in which his presentations of the chinese classics are held. This volume is part of a set of four Chinese Classics by Legge. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the Chinese classics, and in particular, for those who prefer the classic characters over the modernised, simplified versions in which other publishers have (unfortunately) chosen to present these wonderful jewels of chinese literature.
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