辽宁人民出版社及时并隆重推出“最经典英语文库”系列丛书，是具有远见与卓识的出版行为。我相信，这套既可供阅读，同时也具收藏价值的英语原版经典作品系列丛书，在帮助人们了解什么才是经典作品的同时，也一定会成为广大英语爱好者、大中学生以及学生家长们挚爱的“最经典英语文库”。
北京外国语大学英语学院
北外公共外交研究中心
欧美文学研究中心主任
全国英国文学学会名誉会长
张中载 教授
2013年7月于北京
General Preface
to The Bedside Chinese Classics
The Four Books and The Five Classics are the funda mental core of Confucianism, which have long been part of Chinese culture together with the thoughts, values and ethics embodied in them. The Four Books includes Confucian Analects, The Works of Mencius, The Great Learning, and The Doctrine of the Mean; and The Five Classics involves The She King (Classic of Poetry), The Shoo King (Book of Historical Documents), The Li Ki(Book of Rites), The Yi King (I Ching) and The Ch＇un Ts＇ew (Spring and Autumn Annals). To some extent, theConfucius classics represented by The Four Books and The Five Classics are the source of Chinese thought and culture over thousands of years, which have shaped China as what the nation it is and the Chinese people as who they are.