"For anyone, like me, who's ever stared at a shelf of Chinese classics and thought 'where do I even start?'--start here. Bell makes China's ancient debates feel alive, witty, and politically urgent." --Alexandre Lefebvre, author of Liberalism as a Way of Life "Drinks are poured, jokes are exchanged, and the banquet is set. In this book, Daniel Bell invites us to eavesdrop on fascinating, candid, and witty discussions between imagined contemporary descendants of great Chinese philosophers. Their dialogue provides a dynamic understanding of key philosophical ideas in classical China that are as relevant to our lives as ever. This is serio ludere , or serious play, at its finest." --Anna Sun, author of Confucianism as a World Religion "Ancient political thought, exemplified by the classical Chinese perspectives in Bell's luminary dialogues, matters because it grapples with questions about human society--loyalty, power, culture, and justice--that remain urgent for rethinking the political today." --Shadi Bartsch, author of Plato Goes to China: The Greek Classics and Chinese Nationalism "With a unique dialogue form that reflects how the Chinese tradition itself developed, this book opens creative avenues for engaging with some of the most urgent social and political issues in contemporary China.

" --Paul J. D'Ambrosio , coauthor of Genuine Pretending: On the Philosophy of the Zhuangzi "Daniel Bell is one of the most innovative political theorists of the twenty-first century, transcending the boundaries of Western theoretical traditions and bridging cultural and intellectual traditions. In this ambitious and thought-provoking book, Bell creatively fills gaps in the understanding of Chinese political philosophy and underscores its enduring relevance. The dialogues bring complex philosophical debates to life and are brimming with wisdom and profound insight." --Baogang He , coauthor of China's Galaxy Empire "Daniel Bell makes this deep dive into ancient Chinese political thought an easy and entertaining business. While the original Chinese texts themselves offer little by way of structure and context, by organizing them into a lively dialogue, Bell provides them with lucidity and coherence. Indeed, he furnishes these early thinkers with a stage on which to debate both their own theories and the contemporary issues that he would have them answer." --Roger T.

Ames, author of Living Chinese Philosophy.