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Wengu zhixin Table of content

Shi Jing

Shi Jing Introduction Table of content – The Book of Odes

The oldest collection of Chinese poetry, more than three hundred songs, odes and hymns. Tr. Legge (en) and Granet (fr, incomplete).

Lun Yu

Lun Yu Introduction Table of content – The Analects of Confucius

The Master discusses with his disciples and unveil his preoccupations with society. Tr. Legge (en), Lau (en) and Couvreur (fr).

Daxue Introduction Table of content – The Great Learning

Confucean thought summarized for the Prince. Tr. Legge (en), Pauthier (fr), Bog (fr).

Zhongyong Introduction Table of content – The Doctrine of the Mean

Confucius' grandson comments about the Way and human nature. Tr. Legge (en)

San Zi Jing Introduction Table of content – The Three-Character Classic

A textbook helpfull to start learning Classic Chinese. Tr. Giles (en) and Deverge (fr).

Yi Jing

Yi Jing Introduction Table of content – I Ching, the Book of Changes

This famous system of 64 hexagrams plus their commentaries and trans­for­mations is at the root of Chinese thought. Tr. Wilhelm (en, fr).

Dao De Jing

Dao De Jing Introduction Table of content – The Way and Its Power

The naturalist, individualist and politic doctrine of Lao-tse exhibited in 81 poetic and obscure texts. Tr. Waley (en), Lau (en), Julien (fr) and Wilhelm (de).

Tang Shi

Tang Shi Introduction Table of content – 300 Tang poems

An anthology of 320 poems. Discover Chinese poetry in its golden age and some of the greatest Chinese poets. Tr. by Bynner (en).

Sun Zi

Sun Zi Introduction Table of content – The Art of War

Chinese strategy explained : know yourself and the ennemy, use deception, spies, and "win with ease". Tr. Giles (en, annotated) and Amiot (fr).

36 Ji Introduction Table of content – Thirty-Six Strategies

A recently uncovered notebook of 36 proverbs commented as military tactics that helps dealing with conflicts. Tr. Verstappen (en), Doc Mac Jr (fr).

Random samples

The genial wind from the south / Blows on the heart of that jujube tree, / Till that heart looks tender and [...] Cf. Shijing 32

The Master said, "If the son for three years does not alter from the way of his father, he may be called filial." [...] Cf. Lunyu 86

K'an / The Abysmal (Water) / Water flows on uninterruptedly and reaches its goal: The image of the Abysmal [...] Cf. Yijing 29

What is of all things most yielding / Can overwhelm that which is of all things most hard. / Being substanceless it can [...] Cf. Daodejing 43

Thoughtful elation has no end: / Onward I bear it to whatever come. / And my boat and I, before the evening [...] Cf. Tangshi 23

All men can see the tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved. [...] Cf. Sunzi 90

Foreword

In these pages it's possible to read the Analects of Confucius (Lunyu), The Way and its Power (Daode Jing) attributed to Lao-tse and some other wisdom or poetry texts in Chinese with English and French translations. Any Chinese characters are linked to dictionaries. Your browser must display Chinese.

Why read Confucius, Lao-tse or the Book of Changes? Well, these Chinese classics have had a major influence on the oldest civilization still in existence on the face of this planet; that should be enough. If not, please consider that China, mostly as a distant mirror where hopes and fears are reflected, has exercised a profound impact on the thinking patterns of Western civilisations, and will. This article in the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy explains things better.

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Anon. – intro – 2008/12/07
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Anon. – intro – 2007/11/02
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Evandro – intro – 2007/12/07
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Anon. – intro – 2007/12/03
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Singaporean chinese – intro – 2006/11/02
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Anon. – intro – 2006/12/09
Revue de presse / Press review

Harrison Z. Huang, Ph.D student at socrates.berkeley.edu, writes : "Analects on the AFPC website: This excellent site based in France arrays the Chinese text of the Analects alongside English translations by James Legge (1871) and D.C. Lau. (1979), as well as a French translation by Couvreur."

Jean-Victor Gruat, dans le Portique, écrit : « Hors des sentiers battus et du traditionnel des manuels, gbog nous procure depuis quelques mois d'ineffables plaisirs sur son site [...] Ce qui fait toute l'originalité et le charme du travail particulièrement méticuleux de gbog, c'est la présentation des textes sous une forme respectant la tradition de l'époque, caractères inscrits sur des faisceaux de planchettes de bambou que l'on déroulait pour les lire, avec l'utilisation de techniques modernes et légères d'annotation informatique [...] »

The art of doing nothing, www.biroco.com, writes : "Absolutely marvellous rendering of the Yijing, Lunyu, Daodejing, Shijing, and Tang Shi in Chinese and translation. Beautifully presented, an obvious labour of love and considerable technical expertise."

En Suisse, sinoptic.ch écrit : « [...] site riche et esthétiquement très réussi [...]. Une référence ! »

En Belgique, Le Soir (19 mars 2004), dans son article L'empire, à mots choisis, petit béaba chinois, a écrit : « Wengu. Entrez ce mot dans un moteur de recherche sur Internet ou allez à http://afpc.asso.fr/wengu/index.php, vous découvrirez un site d'introduction à la culture chinoise très bien présenté. »

Le Bulletin des Bibliothèques de France (BBF 2003 - Paris, t. 48, n. 5), propose Wengu dans son Panorama du Web. A Lyon, Le Fonds chinois de la bibliothèque municipale propose Wengu comme site du mois.

Classical Chinese Literature Websites Database writes : "Contains Shi Jing, Lun Yu, Yi Jing, Dao de jing, Tang shi. Nice introduction and information about each one. Contains traditional chinese characters with immediate English (and French!) translation. Some texts offer multiple translations. REALLY COOL PART: If you put your pointer on a character, a rollover window appears with pinyin pronounciation (complete with tone!) and translation. Clicking on the character opens up a dictionary in a separate window. Although some of the translations are modern, rather than classical, it is still useful (and pretty neato)."

Other pages linking here / Autres liens entrants :
Wenlin Institutes (home of a wonderful software for learning chinese).
Wikipedia articles on Shi Jing, Lun Yu, Yi Jing, Chinese poetry, and so on...
The Internet Public Library, Dmoz, Google and other directories.
Symbols.net, Extraits et Sucs de la langue chinoise, Condor.depaul.edu, Myrilke, Le Blog Des Livres.
gbog – 0 – 2005/12/02
Hello. This is one of the BEST website i have ever seen for interpretating the essense of Chinese culture. now reading this website EVERY DAY becomes a habbit for me!One suggestion— is that possible to add a column for SONG-CI ? Thanks a lot!!!
Miss Papaya – 0 – 2004/11/02
c'est merveilleux votre site, vous avez établi un véritable trésor de la culture chinoise. BON COURAGE:
Anon. – 0 – 2004/11/02
Chinese landscape on plate (14)
Wengu, Chinese Classics multilingual text base