Leon Wieger spent most of his adult life in China; he died there, in 1933. His translations have a special quality, because of his long sojourn there, and also because he took the trouble to find out the ancient meanings of the written characters; meanings which have sometimes changed with the passage of time.
Wieger's original work on philosophy and religion in China was very long, and written for scholars. The present selection, designed to have a wider appeal, concentrates on the more ancient, and original texts of Confucianism and Taoism; it also includes chapters on Buddhism, and Islam in China.