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Guanzi: Political, Economic, and Philosophical Essays from Early China

Named for the famous Chinese Minister of State, Guan Zhong (d. 645 B.C.), the Guanzi is one of the largest collections of ancient Chinese writings still in existence. With this volume, W. Allyn Rickett completes the first full translation of the Guanzi into English. This represents a truly monumental effort, as the Guanzi is a long and notoriously difficult work. It was compiled in its present form about 26 B.C. by the Han dynasty scholar Liu Xiang and the surviving text consists of some 76 anonymous essays dating from the fifth century B.C. to the first century B.C.

The 42 chapters contained in this volume include several which present Daoist theories concerning self-cultivation and the relationship between the body and mind as well as the development of Huang-Lao political and economic thought. The

“Dizi zhi” chapter provides one of the oldest discussions of education in

China.