The Drunk and Chinese Political Philosophy

Tonight, this every evening, my friend Mr. Armbrister called me. He was, um, not so much drunk as much as very un-sober. Which is cool. Cause its Wednesday.

Regardless, as he always does, he makes fun of me for studying China at Emory & Henry and UVA. Ah, some jokes just never die. Even when they are incoherent. And stuff.

Which made me start to think - I have probably not talked enough about the Middle Kingdom in this here blog (pronounced "bù luò gé" in the tongue of the Han folk - according to the "internet").

What to say, though, what to say?

I paced. I paced and I paced and then I paced some more. I went through two Diet Mountain Dews. I cursed my television for having inferior programing options. Rage was my mantra.

Then I thought of it. I will give the great works to you that my old mentor at Virginny, the great Dr. Ronald Dimberg, gave to me.
Backstory: The single best course I had at Virginia was my first semester of my first year, a course on Chinese political philosophy of the Zhou (pronounced "Joe") and Qin (pronounced "Chin") Dynasties. We read a host of works from this period, all of which fascinated me as intellectually powerful alternatives to Western political philosophy. It was, frankly, like the first moment I used a blade to scrape and shape paint on a canvas - everything was familiar, but alien at the same time - the effect was vaguely intoxicating. I dunno'. Regardless, I sat and read for hours on end in the various libraries, reading and, frankly, re-reading these works and, I believe, they were the single most important contributors to my understanding the differences between Western and Sinic political thought. Perhaps I'm wrong.

If you liked Buddhism, you'll like -

Taoist Works:

Laozi (Tao Te Qing):
James Legge's Translation

Zhuangzi:
James Legge's Translation
Burton Watson's Translation

If you liked the non-racist, cool parts of the South, you'll like -

Confucian Works:

The Doctrine of the Mean:
James Legge's Translation
Charles Muller's Translation

The Great Learning:
Charles Muller's Translation
The Classic of Filial Piety:
James Legge's Translation
Kungfuzi (Confucius):
James Legge's Translation
Charles Muller's Translation

Mengzi (Mencius):
James Legge's Translation
Charles Muller's Translation

Xunzi:
(Unfortunately, no complete translations are available on the web. Sorry.)
Patricia Ebrey's Presentation

If you liked Jesus then you'll like -

Moism:

Mozi:
Donald Sturgeon's Translation

If you liked Machiavelli and Hobbes, you'll like -

Legalism:

Hanfei Zi:
(Sadly, no one seems to have a complete version online, so the following are mere selections)
W.K. Liao's Translation (Mis-cited?)
Assorted Translations

Enjoy.