The annals of Lü Buwei

"This is the first complete English translation of the Lushi chunqiu, compiled in 239 B.C. under the patronage of Lu Buwei, prime minister to the ruler of the state of Qin, who was to become the first emperor of a newly unified China eighteen years later.

Lu retained a group of scholars whose aim was to encompass the world's knowledge in one great encyclopedia; so delighted was Lu with the finished work that he is said to have offered a fabulous prize of gold to anyone who could add or subtract even a single word.". "An exceptionally rich and comprehensive compendium, The Annals of Lu Buwei recounts in engaging, straightforward, and readable prose the great variety of beliefs and customs of its time. The work is one of the great monuments of Chinese thinking, a work of originality and cohesion, inspired by a vision of a universal empire governed by harmony between man and nature, protective of human and animal life, devoted to learning and culture, practicing benevolence and kindness, and motivated by reason and morality."--BOOK JACKET.