‘The Confucius Chronicles’, translated and edited by Wai-yee Li (Review)

While I rarely spend more than a few days on any one book, occasionally, owing to a busy schedule or the nature of the book, I need a good while longer, and both of these were the case with today’s choice. It’s partly my fault, though, as having happily agreed to take a look at an offering from the ever-reliable Columbia University Press, I found myself in way over my head. Still, I persevered, and here I am to tell you all about the experience – and, of course, about the star of the show ***** Even the most insular anglophone reader would have heard of Confucius, the ancient Chinese philosopher and would-be politician, but I suspect that most (myself included) would know very little about him other than his name and country of origin. It’s for that very reason that I was more than willing to take a look at The Confucius Chronicles: A Guide to the Texts That Made the Legend (review copy courtesy of the publisher), in which Wai-yee Li translates and comments on a whole range of texts…