Engaging in existential discourse beyond the European tradition, this book turns to Asian philosophies to reassess vital questions of life's purpose, death's imminence, and our capacity for living meaningfully in conditions of uncertainty. Inspired by the dilemmas of European existentialism, this cross-cultural study seeks concrete techniques for existential practice via the philosophies of East Asia. The investigation begins with the provocative writings of twentieth-century Korean Buddhist nun Kim Iryop, who asserts that meditative concentration conducts a potent energy outward throughout the entire karmic network, enabling the radical transformation of our shared existential conditions. Understanding her claim requires a look at East Asian sources more broadly. Considering practices as diverse as Buddhist merit-making ceremonies, Confucian/Ruist methods for self-cultivation, the ritual memorization and recitation of texts, and Yijing divination, the book concludes by advocating a speculative turn. This 'speculative existentialism' counters the suspicion toward metaphysics characteristic of twentieth-century European existential thought and, at the same time, advances a program for action. It is not a how-to guide for living, but rather a philosophical methodology that takes seriously the power of mental cultivation to transform the meaning of the life that we share.

This volume contains nine chapters of translation, by a range of leading scholars, focusing on core themes in the philosophy of Zhu Xi (1130-1200), one of the most influential Chinese thinkers of the later Confucian tradition. It includes an Introduction to Zhu's life and thought, a chronology of important events in his life, and a list of key terms of art. Zhu Xi's philosophy offers the most systematic and comprehensive expression of the Confucian tradition; he sought to explain and show the connections between the classics, relate them to a range of contemporary philosophical issues concerning the metaphysical underpinnings of the tradition, and defend Confucianism against competing traditions such as Daoism and Buddhism. He elevated the Four Books-i.e. the Analects, Mengzi, Great Learning, and Doctrine of the Mean-to a new and preeminent position within the Confucian canon and his edition and interpretation of these four texts was adopted as the basis for the Imperial Examination System, which served as the pathway to officialdom and success in traditional Chinese society. Zhu Xi's interpretation remained the orthodox tradition until the collapse of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) and exerted a profound and enduring influence on how Confucianism was understood in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.

One of the five classics of Confucianism, the I Ching or Book of Changes has exerted a living influence in China for three thousand years. Beginning in the dawn of history as a book of oracles, it became a book of wisdom--a common source for both Confucianist and Taoist philosophy. The I Ching was little known in the West before James Legge's English translation (1882), and the appearance of the late Richard Wilhelm's poetic translation into German in 1923 made to work available to a wider public. This was in turned published in Bollingen Series (1950) in the translation of Cary F. Baynes. Now Professor Hellmut Wilhelm, of the University of Washington, carries on his father's work with a group of related studies of the Book of Changes. Born and educated in China, Hellmut Wilhelm grew up in an atmosphere of Chinese classical tradition. During the winter of 1943, he delivered the first version of these lectures to a group of Europeans, isolated in Peking under Japanese occupation, who wished to study the I Ching. Besides presenting a lucid explanation and interpretation of the I Ching, Professor Willhelm brings forward new scholarship and insights. Mrs. Baynes is again responsible for the translation. Originally published in 1960. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

One of the five classics of Confucianism, the I Ching or Book of Changes has exerted a living influence in China for three thousand years. Beginning in the dawn of history as a book of oracles, it became a book of wisdom--a common source for both Confucianist and Taoist philosophy. The I Ching was little known in the West before James Legge's English translation (1882), and the appearance of the late Richard Wilhelm's poetic translation into German in 1923 made to work available to a wider public. This was in turned published in Bollingen Series (1950) in the translation of Cary F. Baynes. Now Professor Hellmut Wilhelm, of the University of Washington, carries on his father's work with a group of related studies of the Book of Changes. Born and educated in China, Hellmut Wilhelm grew up in an atmosphere of Chinese classical tradition. During the winter of 1943, he delivered the first version of these lectures to a group of Europeans, isolated in Peking under Japanese occupation, who wished to study the I Ching. Besides presenting a lucid explanation and interpretation of the I Ching, Professor Willhelm brings forward new scholarship and insights. Mrs. Baynes is again responsible for the translation. Originally published in 1960. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

From the fifth century BC to the present and dealing with the Three Teachings (Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism) as well as popular religion, this introduction to the eight-volume Early and Modern Chinese Religion explores key ideas and events in four periods of paradigm shift in the intertwined histories of Chinese religion, politics, and culture. It shows how, in the Chinese church-state, elite processes of rationalization, interiorization, and secularization are at work in every period of major change and how popular religion gradually emerges to a position of dominance by means of a long history of at once resisting, adapting to, and collaborating with elite-driven change. Topics covered include ritual, scripture, philosophy, state policy, medicine, sacred geography, gender, and the economy. It also serves as the basis for an on-line Coursera course.