Description: The center of this prodigious work of scholarship is a fresh examination of the range of Chinese thought during the formative period of Chinese culture. Schwartz looks at the surviving texts of this period with a particular focus on the range of diversity to be found in them, but also considers views which stress the unity of Chinese culture.
Brief description: Benjamin I. Schwartz was Leroy B. Williams Professor of History and Political Science, Emeritus, at Harvard University.
Review Quotes: With this immensely learned book, Mr. Schwartz has challenged those who reflect only on Western historical experience or 'primitive' societies to take the world of thought in ancient China into account... The great contribution of this book is to engage ancient Chinese thought in a dialogue with late 20th-century intellectual, moral and political concerns.--Willard J. Peterson "New York Times Book Review"