“In order to afford their readers optimal access to a text that has been poorly understood and unfairly denigrated over the years, in addition to their definitive English translation and their critical Chinese text, Ian Johnston and Wang Ping have provided us with the broadest interpretative context imaginable.”

—ROGER T. AMES
Peking University

★ Liezi is one of the most important texts in pre-Qin Chinese thought and a foundational work of Daoism. It emerged at a pivotal period that linked ancient Chinese philosophical traditions. Using direct and humorous language to explain profound ideas, it serves as an excellent complement to the enigmatic Tao Te Ching and the philosophically intricate Zhuangzi.
★ This edition is based on the critically acclaimed annotated text by the medieval metaphysician Zhang Zhan, complete with his original commentary. It is translated by Ian Johnston, an experienced translator, in collaboration with Wang Ping, a scholarly expert, ensuring both authentic presentation of the original text and rigorous translational accuracy.
★ Ideal as an extended reading for Chinese classics studies, this book is suitable for general readers, students, scholars, and overseas readers interested in Chinese civilization.

THE LIEZI is a work attributed to the Daoist Lie Yukou, who, according to the traditional account, lived during the later part of the fifth and first part of the fourth centuries BCE. This places him between the first wave of philosophers of the pre-Han “Hundred Schools” (notably Lao Zi, Confucius, Mo Di, and Deng Xi) and the second wave, from mid-fourth to the end of the third centuries BCE. Thus, he may be said to have responded to the former and prefigured the latter.

The Liezi we have today is the recension by the Xuanxue (Dark Learning, third to fifth centuries CE) scholar Zhang Zhan and is accompanied by Zhang’s commentary, which is a philosophical work in its own right and comparable to the commentaries of Wang Bi on the Laozi and Guo Xiang on the Zhuangzi. It is an engaging work, presenting profound philosophical ideas in a straightforward, down-to-earth, and sometimes humorous way, which makes it an admirable complement to the mystical and gnomic Laozi and the philosophically complex, esoteric Zhuangzi. The three works, identified by the Tang emperor Xuanzong as Divine Classics, form the foundation of what might be termed “philosophical Daoism”.

IAN JOHNSTON
IAN JOHNSTON has devoted himself to a life of relative seclusion in Southern Tasmania with his partner Susie Collis and their Pyrenean Mountain Dogs since retiring from his neurosurgical practice at the end of the millennium. He spends much of his time working on his translations from Classical Chinese and Ancient Greek into English. In both cases, he has indulged his predilection for the bilingual format. In the former, he has benefitted greatly from his ongoing collaboration with Wang Ping. In the latter, he is pleased to have been able to contribute a number of volumes to the Loeb Classical Library on the works of Galen, the second century CE doctor so influential in Western medicine. He plans to continue working on his translations until the darkness finally falls.

WANG PING
WANG PING is an Associate Professor in the School of Humanities and Languages, the University of New South Wales, Australia, where she teaches classical Chinese literature and aesthetics. Authoring numerous articles and book chapters, she is the co-translator (with Ian Johnston) of Daxue & Zhongyong and The Mingjia & Related Texts. She is a recipient of research fellowships and residence in a number of institutes including the International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden University, and Cite Internationale des Arts, Paris. Before joining UNSW Sydney, Wang had also taught at universities in China and the USA.