"The following year Qin unified all under Heaven and the title of August Emperor was immediately adopted." The short-lived Qin dynasty unified China in 221 BC and created an imperial legacy that lasted until 1911. The extraordinary story of the First Emperor, founder of the dynasty, is told in the Historical Records of Sima Qian, the Grand Historiographer and the most famous Chinese historian. He describes the Emperor's birth and the assassination attempt on his life, as well as the political and often brutal events that led to the founding of the dynasty and its aftermath. Sima Qian recounts the building of the Great Wall, the "burning of the books", and the construction of the First Emperor's magnificent tomb, a tomb now world famous since the discovery of the terracotta warriors in 1974. Sima Qian's love of anecdote ensures that his history is never dull, and Raymond Dawson's fluent translation captures his lively and vivid style.

Product Description: Theirs was a rich civilization in which emperors are magnified, bureacrats satirized, women worshipped, nature revered, parting and death mourned, and war reviled. Dawson shows how Chinese art and literature are linked by the magic of the calligraphic brush-stroke, and the lasting influence of ancient doctrines on Chinese manners and institutions, all of which is deeply rooted in tradition...read more

Product Description: The Historical Records or Shiji is a vast history of the Chinese world from its beginnings up to the late second century BC. Its author, the Grand Historiographer Sima Qian (c. 145-86 BC), is the most famous Chinese historian and a great writer whose work has powerfully influenced Chinese and other Far Eastern literatures...read more

Product Description: As China’s international status grows, its civilization excites an increasing interest from the outside world. The Legacy of China is the perfect solution for anyone in need of a non-textbook introduction to the world's legacies from China in the major realms of spirit and intellect...read more

Product Description: This is a reissue of A New Introduction to Classical Chinese which replaced the author's An Introduction to Classical Chinese published in 1968. The notes were revised and the amount of text nearly doubled. The book now goes beyond the fourth century to include material from the great Han Dynasty historian Ssu-ma Ch'ien...read more

Discusses the sayings of Confucius, shows how they form a unified social, ethical and intellectual system, and evaluates their influence on China and the modern world