Basic Writings of Mo Tzu, Hsun Tzu, and Han Fei Tzu Book

This is a good translation of some odd Chinese philosophers of the ages of Mencius and the Qin. Mozi, described by Oswald Spengler as a "socialist", has an oddly autistic worldview which absolutizes some elements and demands the elimination of others. Xunzi is a pessimistic Confucian who believes that rituals make us human and without rituals we would revert to animality; I cannot help but have some sympathy for his views. Han Fei, the only actual prince among the Chinese philosophers, is a distrustful Machiavelli constantly seeing the seeds of treason and assassination around him. Burton Watson pulls no punches and gives us the real flavor of the philosophers with carefully chosen excerpts.