In the first half of the book, the author looks at the historical background of Lao Tzu's life and the process of the book's formation. From there, the author will look at the thought of "Laozi" in four major themes: "Ethical Thought," "Political Thought," "Curing Thought," and "Natural Thought.

It is a tremendous volume. The book discusses Lao Tzu in considerable detail. There are also extensive notes.

I honestly think it is a tough introductory book, but if you are interested in learning more about Lao Tzu, I highly recommend this work. I also recommend Kunio Hachiya's "Lao Tzu Explorations: The Idea of Continuing Life" as a set with this book. This is a work to learn more about Lao Tzu, politics, the state, and the historical background.

This is a valuable reference book that provides an insight into the reality of a unique group of thinkers who preached pacifism in a war-torn world.

Reading this book, I was quite surprised to learn that the Sumi family, which preached the pacifism of "non-offensive" and the philanthropism of "kaneai," was willingly armed and fighting. However, this is not an easy story, but rather a story about how to survive in the harsh historical background of the Warring States period to the utmost limit.

The fact that they willingly took up arms while advocating non-aggression cannot be dismissed in one word as a contradiction. Why this was the case was very interesting to me.

This book explains how such ink houses were born, how they spread throughout China, and how they eventually disappeared.

Summary and Comments on "Sun Tzu: Reading the Essence of the Art of War" by Yoshihiro Watanabe - A recommended reference book for learning a classic that is still relevant today in an easy-to-understand manner. Let's get started...

In my personal opinion, it is by far easier to read than the "Analects" that I have read before. It is also interesting that it is told with a bit of irony, or perhaps black humor. I was left with the impression that I felt as if I was reading a short story by Chekhov. I think this is especially true of "The People in Disguise," which I introduced earlier. This coincidence must be the result of the two authors' calm and thorough human insight. It was very interesting.

It was an extremely stimulating and interesting read. It is a book that overturns the image that the classics are rigid and formal. I highly recommend this book.

The time of Geng Zhi is just before the establishment of the Qin Empire. The number of countries that controlled China was limited, and the unification of the country was almost at hand. However, the "good government" that Mencius advocated was a dream come true.

That is why Confucius taught a more realistic and rational view of the world, the "theory of sexual vice. This is explained in detail in this book, so I hope you will read it and find out for yourself. It is very interesting.

This book, "Mencius" will be a work that allows us to take a closer look at his life, thought, and historical background.

The book makes it clear how important the historical background is. It reveals how Mencius did not simply state his theory of sexual goodness in an idealistic manner, but as a persuasive theory in the context of the world of his time. He sells his own theory of sexual goodness to the king as "a policy for governing the country. It is interesting to note that, like Confucius and Lao Tzu, all of Chinese thought is related to the political policies of the country.
Other exciting details keep coming up in this book, such as the famous "fifty-fifty" story and Mencius' interesting personality. Here is the interesting side of Mencius that is too good to end up merely at the word level, such as "sexual goodness" or "hōnen chi".

Reading the Analects for the first time this time, I found it an exciting read, saying, "Oh, I didn't know that that quote was preached here in this way! That famous saying was preached here in this way?" It was a stimulating reading.

I personally appreciated reading these famous words, but more importantly, I was particularly impressed by the overall atmosphere of the "Analects".

That said, I felt that "The Analects" was full of a sense of private life. The dialogue between Confucius and his disciples is full of names of people, and Confucius' proverbs are spoken under certain circumstances. In other words, there was an atmosphere of Confucius' words that were appropriate to the situation, rather than words that can be universally applied to any person at any time.

As the title suggests, this book is a work that looks at what Confucianism is. Confucianism is often seen as more of an ethic and morality than a religion, but according to the author, Confucianism is precisely what has greatly influenced the religion of the Chinese.

You will learn in this book that Confucianism is deeply connected to death and that it cannot be contained by rituals, ethics and morality alone.

I also highly recommend "Confucius," which I mentioned in my previous article on Nobuyuki Kaji's writings. It is a wonderful biography that shows who and what kind of person Confucius was. If you read it in combination with this work, the synergy effect will be outstanding. I highly recommend the two books as a set.

This book is just interesting!

This book does not worship Confucius as a god, but rather explores Confucius as a "human being. Rather than deify Confucius and portray him as a saint, we carefully follow his life from the historical background. It is easy to understand why Confucius came into the world and why his teachings spread throughout China.

In this biography, we will see not only the very man Confucius himself, but also the times in which he lived. It is very exciting to learn what Confucius wanted and what he suffered from. The author's narration is excellent and the book is extremely easy to read.