First published in 1963.
The Secret History (so called merely because it was meant for the Mongols and not for the Chinese, ) has been chiefly studied from a learned point of view and its quality as literature and hence its value to the lay reader have been greatly overlooked. The Chinese version has been used, but with constant reference to the Mongol text. The parts selected (founded on story-tellers' tales) date from the middle of the thirteenth century.

Chuang Tzu's appeal is to the imagination; the appeal of mencius is to the moral feelings; realism, as expounded by Han Fei Tzu, finds a close parallel in modern Totalitarianism and as a result these extracts from a book of the third century B.C. nonetheless have a very contemporary connection.

First published in 1934.

Unlike previous translations, this translation of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching is based not on the medieval commentaries but on a close study of the whole of early Chinese literature.

First published in 1937, 'The Book of Songs' is a collection of ancient Chinese songs, dating from 800 to 600 B.C. The original meaning of 290 out of the 305 songs is given, use being made of the advances in the study of old Chinese.

Over a century ago the Chinese discovered in a sealed-up cave in the west of China a collection of manuscripts dating from the fifth century to the end of the tenth. These included many specimens of popular literature of a kind that was not previously known to exist.

First published in 1949, this book gives the biographical background to the many poems of Po Chu-i (A.D 772-846) and traces the connection between his literary career and the disturbed political life of the time. The volume also provides new translations in whole or in part of about a hundred poems by Po Chu-I."

Arthur Waley presents an engrossing account of the works and life of Yuan Mei (1716-1797), the best-known poet of his time. Gaiety is the keynote of his works and the poet was a friend of the Manchu official with whom Commodore Anson had dramatic dealings at Canton in 1743.

First published in 1946, this is a collection of Arthur Waley's translations of Chinese poetry. The book includes some poems from 'The Book of Songs' and '170 Chinese Poems', 'More Translations' and 'The Temple'. Some old translations have been revised and new notes and explanatory material added.