The Annals of Lu Buwei
Knoblock (philosophy, Univ. of Miami, FL) and Riegel (Chinese, Univ. of California, Berkeley) make a signal contribution to the translated canon of Chinese historical/philosophical works with this version of the L  shi chun qiu, the third-century B.C.E. work commissioned by Qin dynasty merchant and prime minister L  Buwei. This compendium of early Chinese thought, divided into three sections, is also a work of history, an almanac, and a manual of state ritual. Though it was written at a time when legalism dominated the philosophical schools in China, it is quite anti-Legalist in tone. Not only do the editors provide a highly readable and complete translation of the work, but they also offer an annotated text in Chinese, following the time-honored Sinological tradition. By basing their translation on Chen Qiyou's critical edition, which was used by Taiwan's Academic Sinica for an electronic database, they allow readers to consult the full text (www.sinica.edu.tw/ftms-bin/ftmsw3). In the book, the reader can consult the entire text, with its almanacs and essays on history and other subjects in its distinctive Taoistic tone, as well as valuable appendixes, including fragments and a preface to the text, affiliations reflected in each chapter, an alphabetical finding list, and an extensive glossary. This translation is in accord with the high standards set by L  when he first commissioned this encyclopedic work. Recommended for East Asian collections in public and academic libraries.DD.E. Perushek, Northwestern Univ. Lib., Evanston, ILCopyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.