Roger T. Ames

The Chinese Classic of Family Reverence: A Philosophical Translation of the Xiaojing

Roger T. Ames; Henry Rosemont

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The Chinese Classic of Family Reverence: A Philosophical Translation of the Xiaojing

Roger T. Ames; Henry Rosemont

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Confucian Cultures of Authority: Edited by Peter D. Hershock and Roger T. Ames

Roger T. Ames; Peter D. Hershock

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Confucian Cultures of Authority: Edited by Peter D. Hershock and Roger T. Ames

Roger T. Ames; Peter D. Hershock

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Zi Wo De Yuan Cheng: Zhong Xi Hu Jing Xia De Gu Dian Ru Xue Yu Dao Jia

Roger T. Ames; Guoxiang Peng

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Dao De Jing: A Philosophical Translation

Roger T. Ames; David L. Hall

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Other editions: 2003

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Dao De Jing: "Making This Life Significant A Philosophical Translation

Roger T. Ames; David L. Hall; Roger Ames; Laozi

Composed more than 2,000 years ago during a turbulent period of Chinese history, the Dao de jing set forth an alternative vision of reality in a world torn apart by violence and betrayal. Daoism, as this subtle but enduring philosophy came to be known, offers a comprehensive view of experience grounded in a full understanding of the wonders hidden in the ordinary. Now in this luminous new translation, based on the recently discovered ancient bamboo scrolls, China scholars Roger T. Ames and David L. Hall bring the timeless wisdom of the Dao de jing into our contemporary world.

Though attributed to Laozi, “the Old Master,” the Dao de jing is, in fact, of unknown authorship and may well have originated in an oral tradition four hundred years before the time of Christ. Eschewing philosophical dogma, the Dao de jing set forth a series of maxims that outlined a new perspective on reality and invited readers to embark on a regimen of self-cultivation. In the Daoist world view, each particular element in our experience sends out an endless series of ripples throughout the cosmos. The unstated goal of the Dao de jing is self-transformation–the attainment of personal excellence that flows from the world and back into it. Responding to the teachings of Confucius, the Dao de jing revitalizes moral behavior by recommending a spontaneity made possible by the cultivated “habits” of the individual.

In this elegant volume, Ames and Hall feature the original Chinese texts of the Dao de jing and translate them into crisp, chiseled English that reads like poetry. Each of the eighty-one brief chapters is followed by clear, thought-provoking commentary exploring the layers of meaning in the text. The book’s extensive introduction is a model of accessible scholarship in which Ames and Hall consider the origin of the text, place the emergence of Daoist philosophy in its historical and political context, and outline its central tenets.

The Dao de jing is a work of timeless wisdom and beauty, as vital today as it was in ancient China. This new version will stand as both a compelling introduction to the complexities of Daoist thought and as the classic modern English translation.

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The Analects of Confucius: A Philosophical Translation

Roger T. Ames; Confucius; Henry Rosemont

Confucius is recognized as China's first and greatest teacher, and his ideas have been the fertile soil in which the Chinese cultural tradition has flourished. Now here is a translation of the recorded thoughts and deeds that best preserve Confucius--informed for the first time by the manuscript version found at Dingzhou in 1973, a partial text dating to 55 B.C.E. and only made available to the scholarly world in 1997. The earliest ANALECTS yet discovered, this work provides us with a new perspective on the central canonical text that has defined Chinese culture--and clearly illuminates the spirit and mind-set of Confucius.

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Other editions: Hardcover - 1998

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The Democracy of the Dead: Dewey, Confucius, and the Hope for Democracy in China

Roger T. Ames; David L. Hall

Will democracy figure prominently in China's future? If so, what kind of democracy? In this insightful and thought-provoking book, David Hall and Roger Ames explore such questions and, in the course of answering them, look to the ideas of John Dewey and Confucius. Those most sanguine about the future of Chinese-Western relations presume that a modernized China will be essentially westernized as well. They believe that in order to enter the family of nations China must be transformed into a liberal democracy, complete with free enterprise capitalism and rational technologies. Only in this manner, so this argument goes, can there be hope for increased rights and freedoms for the individual Chinese. Contrary to this view, the authors argue that it is a mistake to equate modernization with westernization and to believe that individualist, rights-based democracy and its economic and technological accouterments are inevitable consequences of civilized development. Modernity, the authors claim, far from being a universal expression of the human spirit, is a peculiarly Western invention which must be adapted significantly if it is to be useful in a Chinese environment. In The Democracy of the Dead, Hall and Ames argue for the viability of the traditional Chinese cultural sensibility and claim that the China which may well come to dominate the global culture of the twenty-first century will not be a society of increasingly rugged individuals, nor will it be the Netscaped, McDonaldized Theme Park of which Western entrepreneurs have begun to dream. Rather, China is likely to maintain far more of its traditional character than most now suspect possible, and will, therefore, enter the modernworld largely on its own terms. Hall and Ames argue that accommodating the legitimate desires of the Chinese people will require the promotion of a communitarian form of democracy seriously at odds with the liberal democratic model which dominates Western democracies. This will best be accomplished by appealing to the communitarian strain of thought within our own tradition. To this end the authors offer John Dewey's theory of democracy, that of the "communicating community", as the vision which is best suited to engage the realities of Chinese social practice and to promote the realization of a Confucian democracy in China.

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Thinking from the Han: Self, Truth, and Transcendence in Chinese and Western Culture

Roger T. Ames; David L. Hall

This book continues a comparative project begun with the authors' Thinking Through Confucius and Anticipating China. It continues the comparative discussions by focusing upon three concepts -- self, truth, transcendence -- which best illuminate the distinctive characters of the two cultures. "Self" specifies the meaning of the human subject, "truth" considers that subject's manner of relating to the world of which it is a part, and "transcendence" raises the issue as to whether the self/world relationship is grounded in something other than the elements resourced immediately in self and world. Considered together, the discussions of these concepts advertise in a most dramatic fashion the intellectual barriers currently existing between Chinese and Western thinkers. More importantly, these discussions reformulate Chinese and Western vocabularies in a manner that will enhance the possibilities of intercultural communication.

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Other editions: Hardcover - 1998

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Sun Pin: The Art of Warfare

Roger T. Ames; Bin Sun; D. C. Lau; Pin Sun

Lost for some 2,000 years and only rediscovered by chance in 1972, Sun Pin: The Art of Warfare is now recognized as one of the essential texts of classical Chinese military philosophy. In this new edition, D. C. Lau and Roger T. Ames, eminent scholars of Chinese philosophy and widely respected translators, offer a comprehensive translation of the Sun Pin texts, along with extensive notes and commentary. The publication of this volume returns the work of one of the great military innovators to the canon of Chinese literature.
Sun Pin, believed to be a direct descendant of the distinguished military theorist Sun-tzu, flourished during the mid-fourth century B.C. during China's Warring States era, a period of unprecedented violence. As independent nation states attempted to annihilate each other through incessant and escalating battles, military tactics increased exponentially in sophistication and brutality. In the China of the mid-fourth century B.C., it was not uncommon for as many as 80,000 soldiers to perish in a single defeat. As Lau and Ames write in their introduction, warfare was increasingly a way of life, and a way of death. This was the world that Sun Pin both reflected and deeply influenced through his writings.
Sun Pin, himself a victim of a court intrigue that resulted in the amputation of his legs below the knee, rose above disgrace to become the key adviser of King Wei, the ruler of the state of Ch'i. In his writings, Sun Pin draws on battles he had waged as well as examples from earlier history to explore the nature, the purpose, and the effective conduct of war. Sun Pin, essentially a philosopher of the battlefield, ponders such key concepts as the exemplary ruler, the importance of strategy and morale, and the advantages to be gained from adaptability, display, and discretion. Yet these texts are also clearly intended to be practical and to be used to maximum effect on the battlefield. As Sun Pin writes, for one who has really mastered the way of warfare, his enemy can do nothing to escape death.
This new edition of Sun Pin: The Art of Warfare includes not only the sixteen chapters and fragments of the main text recovered at Yin-ch'üeh-shan in 1972, but also fifteen supplementary chapters and three extracts from the encyclopedic tradition. The translation by professors D.C. Lau and Roger T. Ames is admirably clear and fluid, and their comprehensive introduction examining the life and times and the original philosophical contribution of the Sun Pin literature is a brilliant work in its own right.
Sun Pin: The Art of Warfare is a timeless text that fuses history, philosophy, military technique, and reflections on the nature of human conflict. At once evocative of an ancient culture and deeply relevant to contemporary concepts of power and leadership, this volume belongs in the libraries of all serious readers.

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Anticipating China: Thinking Through the Narratives of Chinese and Western Culture

Roger T. Ames; David L. Hall

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Other editions: Hardcover - 1995

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Emotions in Asian Thought: A Dialogue in Comparative Philosophy

Roger T. Ames; Joel Marks

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Other editions: Hardcover - 1995

The Art of Rulership: A Study of Ancient Chinese Political Thought

Roger T. Ames

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Self As Person in Asian Theory and Practice

Roger T. Ames; Wimal Dissanayake; Thomas P. Kasulis

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Other editions: Softcover - 1994

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Sun-Tzu: The Art of Warfare The First English Translation Incorporating the Recently Discovered Yin-Ch'Ueh-Shan Texts

Roger T. Ames; Sun-Tzu

The most widely read military classic in human history, newly translated and revised in accordance with newly discovered materials of unprecedented historical significance. Fluid, crisp and rigorously faithful to the original, this new text is destined to stand as the definitive version of this cornerstone work of Classical Chinese. Of compelling importance not only to students of Chinese history and literature, but to all readers interested in the art or the philosophy of war.

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Self As Body in Asian Theory and Practice

Roger T. Ames; Thomas P. Kasulis

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Other editions: Softcover - 1992

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Nature in Asian Traditions of Thought: Essays in Environmental Philosophy

Roger T. Ames; J. Baird Callicott

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Thinking Through Confucius

Roger T. Ames; David L. Hall

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Other editions: Softcover - 1987

The Art of Rulership: A Study in Ancient Chinese Political Thought

Roger T. Ames

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