An entertaining introduction to ancient Chinese thinkers—and what they can teach us about today’s most pressing political questions in China and beyond China’s most original, diverse, and fascinating political debates took place more than two millennia ago, but they have profoundly shaped Chinese political thinking and practice ever since and, remarkably, their influence on the country’s leaders is only growing today. Yet these timeless debates—which are very likely to influence the answers to such questions as whether China should use military force to take control of Taiwan—are still far too little understood in the West. In this enlightening and entertaining book, Daniel Bell, a leading expert on Chinese political thought, takes the greatest thinkers from China’s past—Confucius, Mencius, Xunzi, Shang Yang, Han Feizi, Zhuangzi, and Mozi—and puts them in dialogue with each other in modern settings. The result is a creative and engaging introduction to ancient Chinese political