This is by far one of the most well thought out and justified translations I have come across. Though true that it can be "wordy", I find that it clearly conveys ideas that have been missed by others who avoid the time to clearly articulate the depth of certain concepts. Sometimes brevity is not the most important factor in a good translation. The use of 'authoritative', especially after reading the explanation given by the translator, I find to be one of the better translations I have come across. It asks the reader to put aside a certain negatice "baggage" that goes with this vocabularty, but conveys a sentiment that I find very accurate to the word itself and the religion. This is a fablulous traslation with wonderful commentary from the translator. I would consider it a first choice for anyone serious in studying the analects.

This particular translation of the Analects is wonderful. The author begins the book by introducing some terms that are difficult to translate or have multiple implications. In the text itself, these words are frequently left untranslated so that the reader can fully appreciate the diversity of the meaning. The english text is presented side by side with the classical chinese text, allowing the linguistically inclined one to compare the two. A great book alltogether.

This translation questions the traditional translations of Confucius' ideas. "Ren" usually translated as "humanity" here becomes "authoritative conduct" which is closer to Confucius' original meaning of the word, which was "noble conduct." Another unique feature of the translation is that the key Chinese characters are highlighted as they appear, directly in the English translation. This is probably not the first choice for someone unfamiliar with the Analects because it is somewhat technical, but it's a must if you are looking for a deeper understanding of the classic.