This is an extension, expansion, and correction of the website
dedicated to my translation of the San
Zi Jing. The only published translations (in print or in
web-sites) I am aware
of that existed before mine in the twentieth century are by those
Herbert Giles, originally
written in 1910, and subsequently republished in a corrected version in
1963, and one published in Singapore in 1989 (EPB Publishers) by S. T.
Phen. Giles' book is written for students studying Chinese and uses the
San Zi Jing to as an introduction to the Chinese
characters. Giles'
bare-bones translation can be found at this
web-site.
For some time, mine was the only publicly-available website devoted to
the classis, except for the the devoted to Giles. Now, in 2013, San Zi Jing
websites abound, and ghosts of my original web-site can be found on the
WWW, appearing sometimes as the work of others.
New
features now included here are a chronology of Chinese history, showing
how events and people referred to in the classic fit into a time-line,
a collection of narratives that attempt to recreate the way in which
the classic was taught within a family, and expanded explanatory
footnotes and links to external websites, which explain these
matters
and persons more fully. The links have been chosen more for readability
and interest rather than for their scholarly value.
Originally the websites was primarily graphical, since few people's
browsers in those days were equipped to deal with Chinese characters;
this site is entirely text-based.
Louis Smogor, paradox@depauw.edu