The center of this prodigious work of scholarship is a fresh examination of the range of Chinese culture thought during the formative period of Chinese culture. Benjamin Schwartz looks at the surviving texts of this period with a particular focus on the range of diversity to be found in them. While emphasizing the problematic and complex nature of this thought he also considers views which stress the unity of Chinese culture Attention is accorded to pre-Confucian texts, to the evolution of early Confucianism, to Mo-Tzu, to the "Taoists" the legalists, the Ying-Yang school, the "five classics" as well as to intellectual issues which cut across the conventional classification of schools. The main focus is on the high cultural texts, but Mr.Schwartz also explores the question of the relationship of these texts to the vast realm of popular culture.

本书是美国著名汉学家史华兹研究近代中国哲学、政治思想史的一部具有较高声誉和广泛影响的著作。作者以其独具特色的角度和方法，使人们重新认识了作为一位迷人的西方思想评论家的严复。作者指出，严复站在未经历近代化变革的中国传统文化立场上，一下子就发现并抓住了欧洲著作中阐述的“集体的能力”这一主题，并在欧洲思想中至少发现了两方面的秘密，即充分发挥人们全部能力和将其导向为集体目的服务的公心。作者揭示严复思想的秘密及其得失的思路，对于我们深入研究中西文化交流融合的机制和渠道，无疑是十分有益的。

先秦是中国思想史上群星灿烂的时期，它奠定了文化的基本性格和此后发展的基本格局，并因此成为世界性的永恒研究焦点。作者史华兹教授为欧美中国研究界的一代大师。他既渊博、敏锐又灵动，从不随波追逐任何成见或时髦，被学界誉为柏林式的“反潮流”人物。在这部集晚年功力之大成的著作中，作者从中西比较的研究视角，对先秦的思想世界进行了分析性重建。作者坚信人类思想可以通过文化符号系统进行交流沟通，并以此项研究挑战了当代文化人类学的相对主义倾向及其相关预设。本书曾荣获Phi Beta Kappa的Ralph WaldoEmerson Award和美国历史学会的James Henry Breasted奖