Author Annping Chin to Discuss Her Book, The Authenic Confucius

Author Annping Chin to Discuss Her Book, The Authenic Confucius

Perrot Library is celebrating “A Year of China” with several programs, including book discussions and outdoor films, this summer. As part of this program, Perrot will host author Annping Chin, who has written The Authentic Confucius: A Life of Thought and Politics. Chin is currently a professor at Yale University in the History Department, and her fields of expertise are Confucianism, Taoism and the Chinese Intellectual tradition.

In her current book, Chin unveils what is known about the life of Confucius and how his sayings have evolved over time. Confucius is called the “sage of ten thousand generations” since his teachings have survived for over 2,000 years. The wisdom of Confucius has survived many political upheavals in China, thus proving the timelessness of his thoughts and ethics.

In her book, Annping Chin has worked through the most reliable Chinese texts in her quest to sort out what is really known about Confucius from the reconstructions and the guesswork that has muddled his memory.

Chin skillfully illuminates the political and social climate in which Confucius lived. She explains how Confucius made the transition from court advisor to wanderer, and how he reluctantly became a professional teacher as he refined his judgment of human character, and composed his vision of a moral political order. The result is an absorbing and original book that shows how Confucius lived and thought: his habits and inclinations, his relation to the people of his time, his work as a teacher and as a counselor, and his worries about the world and generations to come.

We invite you to attend this free event on Wednesday, June 4th, 2008 at 7:30 P.M., in the Library. The author will sign copies of her book after the program.