A team of international experts is to translate the essential books of Confucianism studies, "Five Classics," into nine foreign languages.
The "Five Classics," or "Wujing" in Chinese, is a body of five ancient books about Confucianism studies.
The five books are: Yijing (Classic of Changes), Shijing (Classic of Poetry), Liji (Classic of Rites), Shujing (Classic of History) and Chunqiu (Spring and Autumn Annals). The last one is said to be written by the great philosopher and educator Confucius himself.
Until now, there have been no comprehensive foreign language translations of these books.
Experts said only parts of the work had been translated into French, English and German, but these versions were very dated and scarce outside professional libraries of Chinese culture.
"A translation of the 'Wujing' is urgently needed. Only by translating a complete set of the work will the essence of Chinese culture be fully recognized and accepted by the international community," said Xu Lin, director of the Office of
Chinese Language Council International, in Beijing on Monday at a meeting on the study and translation of the Five Classics.
The project was first launched by the office in 2008 after suggestions from international experts and scholars.
The translation committee consists of more than 30 experts and scholars from China, the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Italy and Israel.
