How to learn classical Chinese and read ancient books?

I suggest you buy a copy of China's View of Ancient Literature published by Yuelu Bookstore, or the edition of Anhui People's Publishing House. Other versions are so bad that there are too many mistakes, which can be said to be unbearable (mostly for cheating money). I bought a set in the mid-1980s. After you buy it, read it carefully from beginning to end. In addition to the text, there are notes and translations. You can understand it against your notes, try to translate it yourself, and then compare it with the translation to see how different your translation is from the book.

So, stick to it, and when you have read the whole book thoroughly, your knowledge of classical Chinese will be quite profound, and reading ancient books will be a cinch!

As a high school Chinese teacher, I once recommended this book to high school students. In the past, only books were recommended, not editions (publishing houses). After the students bought it, I read it. There are many versions and too many mistakes. I regret not recommending the publishing house version to them. Most books bought by students are made by semi-literates to cheat money, no matter what university press, education press or other press.

So this time, I solemnly recommend the two versions mentioned at the beginning, which should be helpful to you.