Yetgeul

Yetgeul61 books

East Asian classics, the Chinese original and a modern translation side by side.
Korea · 14 books
Samguk Yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms)三國遺事Iryeon · 1281 (Goryeo, 7th year of King Chungnyeol) · 140 entries · 35,206 Chinese charactersA collection of tales of the Three Kingdoms period, compiled by Iryeon, a monk of Goryeo. He gathered the stories the o… Samguk Sagi (History of the Three Kingdoms)三國史記Kim Busik and others · 1145 (Goryeo, 23rd year of King Injong) · 193 volumes · 175,426 Chinese charactersThe oldest surviving history of Korea. It is made up of the annals of Silla, Goguryeo and Baekje, together with the tre… Wang Ocheonchukguk Jeon (Memoir of the Pilgrimage to the Five Regions of India)往五天竺國傳Hyecho · 727 (Silla, 26th year of King Seongdeok) · 42 entries · 6,108 Chinese charactersThe travel record of Hyecho, a monk of Silla, who at about twenty walked forty countries of India and the Western Regio… Jewang Ungi (Rhymed Chronicle of Emperors and Kings)帝王韻紀Yi Seunghyu · 1287 (Goryeo, 13th year of King Chungnyeol) · 36 entries · 12,033 Chinese charactersFrom Pangu to the Jurchen Jin, from Dangun to Goryeo — an epic that weaves the two histories, of China and of the East,… Pahanjip (Jottings to Break Idleness)破閑集Yi Illo · Written around 1220 · printed in 1260 · 3 volumes · 16,730 Chinese charactersThe oldest collection of talk about poetry left by a man of letters of Goryeo. It is neither a history nor a classic, b… Haedong Goseungjeon (Lives of Eminent Monks of the Land East of the Sea)海東高僧傳Gakhun · 1215 · 20 entries · 12,831 Chinese charactersThe oldest collection of monks' lives that survives in Korea. Gakhun made it in 1215 at the king's command, sixty-six y… Bohanjip (A Supplement to Jottings to Break Idleness)補閑集Choe Ja · 1254 · 4 volumes · 39,993 Chinese charactersA collection of talk about poetry that carries on from the Pahanjip. Choe U commanded that "the book is not broad enoug… Dongmyeongwang Pyeon (The Lay of King Dongmyeong)東明王篇Yi Gyubo · 1193 · 6 entries · 4,737 Chinese charactersAn old-style poem in 280 five-character lines, with its preface, made by Yi Gyubo in 1193, when he was twenty-six. It s… Gyewon Pilgyeongjip (A Plowing of the Brush in the Cassia Garden)桂苑筆耕集Choe Chiwon · 886 (Tang, 6th year of the Zhonghe era · Silla, 12th year of King Heongang) · 366 pieces · 77,139 Chinese charactersA collection Choe Chiwon made by choosing out of the writings of his four years in the headquarters of Gao Pian, milita… Pilwon Japgi (Miscellaneous Jottings from the Garden of the Brush)筆苑雜記Seo Geojeong · 1487 (Joseon, 18th year of King Seongjong) · 5 volumes · 26,015 Chinese charactersJottings that Seo Geojeong set down at leisure as his brush ran, cut on blocks at Uiseong in 1487. It holds 177 passage… Dongguk Isangguk Jip (Collected Works of Minister Yi of the Eastern Country)東國李相國集Yi Gyubo · Compiled 1241 (Goryeo, 28th year of King Gojong); revised and enlarged 1251 · 2,303 pieces · 300,772 Chinese charactersThe collected writings of Yi Gyubo of Goryeo, gathered and cut in woodblock by his son Yi Ham in 1241 and revised and e… Geumo Sinhwa (New Tales from Mount Geumo)金鰲新話Kim Siseup · About 1465–1470 · 5 pieces · 17,623 Chinese charactersThe oldest work of fiction in Chinese written in Korea, and the first book of Joseon to enter this shelf. Kim Siseup tu… Hunminjeongeum (The Correct Sounds for the Instruction of the People)訓民正音King Sejong and the scholars of the Hall of Worthies · 1446 (Joseon, 28th year of King Sejong) · 9 pieces · 4,787 Chinese charactersThe book in which King Sejong made the twenty-eight letters and set down why he made them and how they are used. It car… Jingbirok (A Record of Rebuke and Admonition)懲毖錄Ryu Seong-ryong · 1633 (printed; written after the Imjin War) · 310 entries · 168,372 Chinese charactersA record left by Ryu Seong-ryong, Chief State Councillor, of what he saw with his own eyes after the Imjin War ended. I…
China · 38 books
Sunzi Bingfa (The Art of War)十一家註孫子Sun Wu, with eleven commentators · 5th century BC (commentaries, 3rd–11th centuries) · 13 pieces · 6,074 Chinese charactersThe oldest of the books on the art of war. This is the recension in which eleven men, Cao Cao among them, each set a co… Daodejing (The Classic of the Way and Virtue)道德經Laozi, with commentaries by Wang Bi and Heshang Gong · 4th–3rd century BC (Wang Bi's commentary, 3rd century AD) · 81 chapters · 5,297 Chinese charactersEighty-one chapters, five thousand characters. The silk manuscripts that came out of the tombs differ in their characte… Sanguozhi Dongyi Zhuan (Accounts of the Eastern Yi in the Records of the Three Kingdoms)三國志 魏書 烏丸鮮卑東夷傳Chen Shou, with commentary by Pei Songzhi · late 3rd century (the commentary, 429) · 14 entries · 16,441 Chinese charactersThe oldest Chinese record of the countries round about. Buyeo, Goguryeo, Okjeo, Eumnu, Ye, the Three Han and the people… Hou Han Shu Dongyi Zhuan (Accounts of the Eastern Yi in the Book of the Later Han)後漢書 東夷列傳Fan Ye · 5th century (about 432–445) · 9 entries · 5,292 Chinese charactersA fifth-century man's ordering of how China looked at the east through the two hundred years of the Later Han. Buyeo, E… Shiji Chaoxian Liezhuan (The Account of Joseon in the Records of the Grand Historian)史記 朝鮮列傳Sima Qian · About 90 BC · 4 entries · 1,257 Chinese charactersThe only contemporary record of the rise and fall of Wiman's Joseon. It begins with Man, a man of Yan, binding up his h… Mingxin Baojian (The Precious Mirror for Illuminating the Mind)明心寶鑑Compiled by Fan Liben · 1393 (Ming, 26th year of the Hongwu era) · 21 pieces · 24,785 Chinese charactersA precious mirror for illuminating the mind. A book of maxims drawn from the classics and the hundred schools on how to… Yanshi Jiaxun (The Family Instructions of Master Yan)顏氏家訓Yan Zhitui · Late 6th century · 20 pieces · 33,031 Chinese charactersTwenty chapters of family instruction left to his descendants by Yan Zhitui, a scholar of the end of the Northern and S… Wujing Qishu (The Seven Military Classics) — the six besides the Sunzi武經七書Ascribed to Jiang Taigong · ascribed to Huang Shigong · Wei Liao · Wu Qi · Sima Rangju · Li Jing · Warring States to Tang (4th century BC to 7th century AD) · 101 pieces · 44,386 Chinese charactersThe six that remain when the Art of War of Sunzi is taken out of the seven military books the Song set as the texts for… Sui Shu Dongyi Zhuan (Accounts of the Eastern Yi in the Book of Sui)隋書 東夷傳Wei Zheng and others · 636 (Tang, 10th year of the Zhenguan era) · 7 entries · 6,998 Chinese charactersThe six countries of the east as the Sui saw them — Goryeo, Baekje, Silla, the Malgal, Liuqiu and Wa. It carries both t… Nan Qi Shu Dongnan Yi Zhuan (Accounts of the Eastern and Southern Yi in the Book of Southern Qi)南齊書 東南夷傳Xiao Zixian · c. 537 (Liang, Southern dynasties) · 6 entries · 5,909 Chinese charactersThe Eastern Yi and the Southern Yi as the Southern Qi saw them. Here are the death of Go Ryeon, King Jangsu of Goguryeo… Jin Shu Siyi Zhuan (Accounts of the Foreign Peoples of the Four Quarters in the Book of Jin)晉書 四夷傳Fang Xuanling and others · 648 (Tang, 22nd year of the Zhenguan era) · 20 entries · 7,795 Chinese charactersThe neighbours on all four sides as the Jin saw them. Here are the edict that raised up Buyeo again after Murong Hui ha… Zhou Shu Yiyu Zhuan (Accounts of the Foreign Regions in the Book of Zhou)周書 異域傳Linghu Defen and others · 636 (Tang, 10th year of the Zhenguan era) · 12 entries · 9,065 Chinese charactersThe neighbours as the Northern Zhou saw them. It gives in detail the thirteen offices of Goryeo and the golso cap, and … Song Shi Gaoli Zhuan (The Account of Goryeo in the History of Song)宋史 高麗傳Toghto and others · 1345 (Yuan, 5th year of the Zhizheng era) · 4 entries · 8,605 Chinese charactersTwo hundred years of Goryeo as the Song saw them. From the investiture of Wang Geon the names of Seo Hui, Uicheon and K… Jiu Tang Shu Dongyi Zhuan (Accounts of the Eastern Yi in the Old Book of Tang)舊唐書 東夷傳Liu Xu and others · 945 (Later Jin, 2nd year of the Kaiyun era) · 5 entries · 9,802 Chinese charactersThe last century of the Three Kingdoms as the Tang saw them. Here are the young men of Goryeo reading books day and nig… Song Shu Yiman Zhuan (Accounts of the Yi and Man Peoples in the Book of Song)宋書 夷蠻傳Shen Yue · 488 (Southern Qi, 6th year of the Yongming era) · 16 entries · 10,054 Chinese charactersThe neighbours across the sea as the Song of the Southern dynasties saw them. Here are the tribute of Go Ryeon, King Ja… Yuan Shi Gaoli Zhuan (The Account of Goryeo in the History of Yuan)元史 高麗傳Song Lian and others · 1370 (Ming, 3rd year of the Hongwu era) · 6 entries · 10,617 Chinese charactersA hundred years of Goryeo as the Mongol empire saw it. It begins with the campaign against the Khitan at Gangdong Fortr… Xin Tang Shu Dongyi Zhuan (Accounts of the Eastern Yi in the New Book of Tang)新唐書 東夷傳Ouyang Xiu and Song Qi · 1060 (Northern Song, 5th year of the Jiayou era) · 5 entries · 11,305 Chinese charactersThe accounts of the Eastern Yi, written afresh a hundred years after the Jiu Tang Shu. Taizong's three plans and the wh… Bei Shi Siyi Zhuan (Accounts of the Foreign Peoples of the Four Quarters in the History of the Northern Dynasties)北史 四夷傳Li Yanshou · 659 (Tang, 4th year of the Xianqing era) · 14 entries · 12,516 Chinese charactersThe East as the four dynasties of the North saw it. Here is the myth of Jumong, born from an egg, in its fullest form; … Liang Shu Zhuyi Zhuan (Accounts of the Various Foreign Peoples in the Book of Liang)梁書 諸夷傳Yao Silian · 636 (Tang, 10th year of the Zhenguan era) · 36 entries · 14,963 Chinese charactersThirty-six kingdoms as the Liang of the Southern dynasties saw them. The memorial in which King Muryeong of Baekje anno… Ming Shi Chaoxian Zhuan (Account of Joseon in the History of Ming)明史 朝鮮傳Zhang Tingyu and others · 1739 (Qing, 4th year of the Qianlong era) · 6 entries · 13,386 Chinese charactersThree hundred years of Joseon as the Ming saw them. Here are the turning back of the army at Wihwado and the choosing o… Sanshiliu Ji (The Thirty-Six Stratagems)三十六計Unknown (ascribed to Tan Daoji) · Compiled around the end of the Ming and the beginning of the Qing · 7 groups · 5,139 Chinese charactersThe thirty-six stratagems of the saying, “Of the thirty-six stratagems, running away is the best.” From deceiving the h… Foguo Ji (A Record of Buddhist Kingdoms)佛國記Faxian · c. 416 (Eastern Jin, Yixi era) · 20 entries · 14,006 Chinese charactersThe record of fifteen years in which Faxian, a monk of sixty-five, left Chang'an to seek the rules of discipline, cross… Caigentan (Discourses on Vegetable Roots)菜根譚Hong Zicheng · c. 1600 (Ming, Wanli era) · 9 groups · 13,037 Chinese charactersA book of maxims on making one’s way through the world, named from the saying that one who can chew vegetable roots can… Lunyu (The Analects)論語Confucius and his disciples (compiled by his students) · Compiled in the Warring States period (5th–3rd century BC) · 20 pieces · 15,869 Chinese charactersThe book longest read in East Asia, opening with "To learn, and to practice it in season, is that not a joy?" Four hund… Mengzi (Mencius)孟子Meng Ke and his disciples · 4th–3rd century BC · 14 pieces · 39,742 Chinese charactersA book that opens with “Why must Your Majesty speak of profit?” and arrives at “The people are the most precious, and t… Zhuangzi (The Book of Master Zhuang)莊子Zhuang Zhou and later hands · Warring States period (4th–3rd century BC) · Guo Xiang's thirty-three-chapter recension · 33 pieces · 69,968 Chinese characters"In the dark sea of the north there is a fish, and its name is Kun" — the book opens with this one line, and with a bir… Shishuo Xinyu (A New Account of Tales of the World)世說新語Compiled by Liu Yiqing · commentary by Liu Xiaobiao · Southern Dynasties, Song (5th century) · commentary by Liu Xiaobiao of Liang · 36 pieces · 68,518 Chinese characters“The sun is far. I have never heard of anyone coming from the sun's side, and by that alone one may know it” — the answ… Da Tang Xiyu Ji (Great Tang Records on the Western Regions)大唐西域記Xuanzang · compiled by Bianji · 646 (Tang, 20th year of the Zhenguan era) · 143 entries · 110,402 Chinese charactersThe record Xuanzang laid before Emperor Taizong of the Tang after seventeen years of walking through the Western Region… Shanhaijing (The Classic of Mountains and Seas)山海經Unknown · commentary by Guo Pu · Warring States to Western Han (commentary, 4th century) · 40 entries · 39,509 Chinese charactersThe oldest geography of the lands beyond the mountains and outside the seas, and a storehouse of myth. No single hand m… Zhenguan Zhengyao (Essentials of Government of the Zhenguan Era)貞觀政要Wu Jing · Early 8th century · 41 pieces · 76,176 Chinese charactersA topical collection of the words exchanged between Emperor Taizong of Tang and his ministers. It opens with the way of… Liezi (The Book of Master Lie)列子Handed down under the name of Lie Yukou · The text we have now dates from about the 4th century · 8 pieces · 33,549 Chinese charactersCounted with the Daodejing and the Zhuangzi as one of the three Daoist books, though the taste of the reading is quite … Daxue (The Great Learning)大學Ascribed to Zengzi · A text carried in the Book of Rites · 11 chapters · 1,945 Chinese charactersA piece of fewer than two thousand characters, and one of the most committed to memory in all East Asia. It opens with … Zhongyong (The Doctrine of the Mean)中庸Ascribed to Zisi · A text carried in the Book of Rites · 34 chapters · 4,033 Chinese charactersIt begins: "What Heaven decrees is called the nature. Following the nature is called the way. Cultivating the way is ca… Xunzi (The Book of Master Xun)荀子Xun Kuang · 3rd century BC · 32 pieces · 79,962 Chinese charactersWhere Mencius put the goodness of man's nature, Xunzi put its evil. Man's nature is born loving gain and full of envy a… Mozi (The Book of Master Mo)墨子Mo Di and his disciples · About the 4th century BC · 36 pieces · 57,470 Chinese charactersThe writings of the school that in the Warring States period stood beside the Confucians as one of the "two great compa… Lunheng (Discourses Weighed in the Balance)論衡Wang Chong · About AD 80 · 84 pieces · 228,622 Chinese charactersWang Chong, a man of the Later Han, gave the sense of his book in four characters — hating what is empty and false. He … Huainanzi (The Writings of the Masters of Huainan)淮南子Liu An and his retainers · About 139 BC · 22 pieces · 139,563 Chinese charactersA book compiled by Liu An, king of Huainan under the Han, together with the retainers at his court. It is set in the fo… Hanfeizi (The Book of Master Han Fei)韓非子Han Fei and his later school · 3rd century BC · 55 pieces · 115,012 Chinese charactersThe book where the Legalists come together in one place. Han Fei took the law of Shang Yang, the technique of Shen Buha…
Japan · 6 books
Nihon Shoki (The Chronicles of Japan)日本書紀Prince Toneri and others · 720 (Japan, 4th year of Yōrō) · 44 volumes · 173,594 Chinese charactersThe oldest official history of Japan. Thirty volumes, from the age of the gods down to Empress Jitō. The two books of t… Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters)古事記Ō no Yasumaro · 712 (Japan, 5th year of Wadō) · 55 entries · 53,511 Chinese charactersThe oldest surviving book in Japan. Three volumes, beginning with the opening of heaven and earth, passing through the … Taketori Monogatari (The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter)竹取物語Unknown · Written in the late 9th or early 10th century · 9 sections · 18,739 Chinese charactersThe oldest tale that survives in Japan. A child who came out of a bamboo stalk grows up, turns away in turn the suits o… Hōjōki (An Account of My Hut)方丈記Kamo no Chōmei · 1212 (Japan, 2nd year of the Kenryaku era) · 10 chapters · 9,331 Chinese characters"The flow of the river never ceases, and yet the water is not the water that was" — written eight hundred years ago by … Oku no Hosomichi (The Narrow Road to the Deep North)奥の細道Matsuo Bashō · 1702 (printed, Genroku 15) · the journey of 1689 · 46 chapters · 11,428 Chinese characters"The months and days are the travelers of a hundred generations, and the years that come and go are travelers too" — th… Tsurezuregusa (Essays in Idleness)徒然草Yoshida Kenkō · about 1331 (Japan, 1st–2nd year of the Genkō era) · 12 groups · 60,950 Chinese characters"With nothing to do, I sit all day long facing the inkstone, and as I set down without order the idle things that rise …
Mongolia · 1 books
Yuanchao Bishi (The Secret History of the Mongols)元朝秘史Unknown · c. 1228 (composed, the Year of the Rat) · Chinese text of the early Ming · 15 volumes · 44,206 Chinese characters"In the beginning the ancestor of the people of the Yuan was a blue-grey wolf born of Heaven" — the oldest book the Mon…
India · 2 books
Bore Xin Jing (The Heart Sutra)般若波羅蜜多心經Xuanzang, Chinese translation · 649 (Tang, 23rd year of the Zhenguan era) · 1 pieces · 276 Chinese characters“Form is itself emptiness, and emptiness is itself form” — a sutra that presses the wisdom of Buddhism into two hundred… Jingang Jing (The Diamond Sutra)金剛般若波羅蜜經Kumārajīva, Chinese translation · 402 (Later Qin, 4th year of the Hongshi era) · 32 fascicles · 5,692 Chinese characters"All marks that exist are empty and false" — a sutra that teaches one to give rise to the mind without dwelling anywher…
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