verdastelo wrote:I want to unread your post. I have already convinced myself that Russian is a great language to learn in conjunction with Classical Chinese and I don't have to learn German first to learn Classical Chinese grammar.
Well, you surely are not required to learn German in order to learn Classical Chinese . It just so happens that I need to improve my German somehow and there is a thick Classical Chinese grammar book... in German! Actually, I can not say now how good (or bad) is Unger's grammar except he is intolerably meticulous in a very German fashion.
verdastelo wrote:One of the first books I purchased on landing in Russia was the three-volume Курс древнекитайского языка (A Course of Classical Chinese).
I do not have it, but be wary: this particular textbook uses Simplified characters which is a serious downside in my opinion.
verdastelo wrote:Neither the Neon.University's course nor Ханмун. Вводный курс 漢文入門 (Hanmun: An Introductory Course 漢文入門) presuppose a knowledge of Mandarin. The latter book has an answer key in the end, so it's ideal for self-study.
I've checked "Ханмун". Indeed, an interesting book, looks useful as most of CC textbooks are oriented to ancient classics while this one is made with medieval Classical Chinese Korean texts in mind. I might go through it as well.
Then there is Nikitina's two-volume Грамматика древнекитайских текстов (A Grammar of the Classical Chinese Texts). I fell in love with the book. She identifies 10 structures and builds on that. Her methodology assures me that I will not miss Ulrich Unger. Here's an illustration
I have it but to be honest I did not like it . But YMMV.
I'll start chipping away at both Mandarin and Classical Chinese this year. I really want to learn German, Japanese, and Korean but I cannot afford to. You have only 24 hours in a day.
You are absolutely right. Do not worry: neither knowledge of Japanese or of German are strict requirements for learning Classical Chinese! You are going to be totally fine . Now, you might also find Oshanin's «Большой китайско-русский словарь» useful (though it is not as good for Classical Chinese as Le Gran Ricci).