What is the best translation of The Analects?

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Accepted Answer

For most readers, the Edward Slingerland translation (2003) of The Analects is the best place to start: Edward Slingerland's Hackett translation is the one I'd start with — accurate and clear, and uniquely it weaves in selections from the traditional Chinese commentaries, so you read the Analects the way Chinese readers always have: with the centuries of interpretation that make the terse sayings cohere. This is where I'd start. For the accessible classic, consider D. C. Lau (1979). For most natural english, consider Simon Leys (1997). For the free classic, consider James Legge (1893).

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