Having undergone a hundred years of Western culture penetration, the Chinese culture will likewise spread to the West in the new century. At the symposium for the publication of the Great China Anthology of Literary Works held Tuesday, scholars said China would for the first time introduce this anthology to the world.
Since Yan Fu began to introduce Western classical writings to China in the early 20th century, China has done a great job in translating and importing Western masterpieces, which represent the Western civilization. On the contrary, China's long history and splendid culture have seldom been introduced to the world due to historical reasons. In view of this, Press and Publication Administration initiated the compilation of the Great China Anthology of Literary Works. Ji Xianlin, Ren Jiyu, Jin Kaicheng, Yang Xianyi, Li Funing and other scholars serve as the academic consultants of the anthology with Foreign Languages Press, New World Press and Hunan People's Press participating in the work of compilation.
The Great China Anthology with both English and Chinese versions has selected 100 most influential and representative works from the classics of ancient China, ranging from the Spring and Autumn Period to the modern times. Including philosophy, religion, politics, economy, military, history, literature, science and technology, it presents the civilization of China. The first batch of the books includes Analects of Confucius, Lao-tzu, Mencius, Lao Book of Master Chung and Apotheosis of Heroes, the Scholars, A Tale of Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West, Outlaws of the Marshes and A Dream of Red Mansions.
As reported, the publication of English version of the Great China Anthology will be followed by French, German, Russian and Arabian versions with not only the translation of full texts but also the selected works.
(People’s Daily 09/29/2000)
