Beijing
A new interpretation of the writings of Confucius has become China’s best-selling book of all time, beating out the Harry Potter books. The Analects of Confucius was written around 500 B.C. in a dialect that is now archaic. Author Yu Dan’s new version retells each parable in modern Chinese, using modern examples. Her book has sold 3.5 million copies since it first came out, in November. Many Chinese have had little exposure to their most famous philosopher. Mao Tse-tung purged Confucianism from Chinese textbooks during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s.
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