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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Non-Christian religions > Religions of Indic & Oriental origin > Oriental religions
A revised edition of the definitive translation of the world's most
important book of divination
- The first English translation from within the tradition by a
Chinese Taoist Master
- Includes translations of the Ten Wings--the commentaries by
Confucius essential to the I Ching's insights
Translated by the eminent Taoist Master Alfred Huang, "The Complete
I Ching" has been praised by scholars and new students of the I
Ching since its first edition. A native Chinese speaker, Master
Huang first translated the original ideograms of the I Ching into
contemporary Chinese and then into English, bringing forth the
intuitive meanings embodied in the images of the I Ching and
imbuing his translation with an accuracy and authenticity not
possible in other English translations. However, what makes his
translation truly definitive is his return to prominence of the Ten
Wings, the commentaries by Confucius that are essential to the I
Ching's insights.
This 10th anniversary edition offers a thorough introduction to the
history of the I Ching, how to use it, and several new divination
methods; in-depth and easy-to-reference translations of each
hexagram name, description, and pictogram; and discussions of the
interrelations between the hexagrams and the spiritual meaning of
their sequence.
This book investigates how Buddhism gradually integrated itself
into the Chinese culture by taking filial piety as a case study
because it is an important moral teaching in Confucianism and it
has shaped nearly every aspect of Chinese social life. The Chinese
criticized Buddhism mainly on ethical grounds as Buddhist clergies
left their parents' homes, did not marry, and were without
offspring-actions which were completely contrary to the Confucian
concept and practice of filial piety that emphasizes family life.
Chinese Buddhists responded to these criticisms in six different
ways while accepting good teachings from the Chinese philosophy.
They also argued and even refuted some emotional charges such as
rejecting everything non-Chinese. The elite responded in
theoretical argumentation by (1) translations of and references to
Buddhist scriptures that taught filial behavior, (2) writing
scholarly refutations of the charges of unfilial practices, such as
Qisong's Xiaolun (Treatise of Filial Piety), (3) interpreting
Buddhist precepts as equal to the Confucian concept of filial
piety, and (4) teaching people to pay four kinds of compassions to
four groups of people: parents, all sentient beings, kings, and
Buddhism. In practice the ordinary Buddhists responded by (1)
composing apocryphal scriptures and (2) popularizing stories and
parables that teach filial piety, such as the stories of Shanzi and
Mulian, by ways of public lectures, painted illustrations on walls
and silk, annual celebration of the ghost festival, etc. Thus,
Buddhism finally integrated into the Chinese culture and became a
distinctive Chinese Buddhism.
The Zhuangzi is a deliciously protean text: it is concerned not
only with personal realization, but also (albeit incidentally) with
social and political order. In many ways the Zhuangzi established a
unique literary and philosophical genre of its own, and while
clearly the work of many hands, it is one of the finest pieces
ofliterature in the classical Chinese corpus. It employs every
trope and literary device available to set off rhetorically charged
flashes of insight into the most unrestrained way to live one's
life, free from oppressive, conventional judgments and values. The
essays presented here constitute an attempt by a distinguished
community of international scholars to provide a variety of
exegeses of one of the Zhuangzi's most frequently rehearsed
anecdotes, often referred to as "the Happy Fish debate." The
editors have brought together essays from the broadest possible
compass of scholarship, offering interpretations that range from
formal logic to alternative epistemologies to transcendental
mysticism. Many were commissioned by the editors and appear for the
first time. Some of them have been available in other
languages-Chinese, Japanese, German, Spanish-and were translated
especially for this anthology. And several older essays were chosen
for the quality and variety of their arguments, formulated over
years of engagement by their authors. All, however, demonstrate
that the Zhuangzi as a text and as a philosophy is never one thing;
indeed, it has always been and continues to be, many different
things to many different people.
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The Book of Tea
(Paperback)
Kakuzo Okakura; Foreword by Anita B. Schafer
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R302
R247
Discovery Miles 2 470
Save R55 (18%)
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The origins of modern Daoism can be traced to the Church of the
Heavenly Master (Tianshidao), reputedly established by the
formidable Zhang Daoling. In 142 CE, according to Daoist tradition,
Zhang was visited by the Lord on High, who named him his vicar on
Earth with the title Heavenly Master. The dispensation articulated
an eschatological vision of saving initiates-the pure, those
destined to become immortals- by enforcing a strict moral code.
Under evolving forms, Tianshidao has remained central to Chinese
society, and Daoist priests have upheld their spiritual allegiance
to Zhang, their now divinized founder. This book tells the story of
the longue duree evolution of the Heavenly Master leadership and
institution. Later hagiography credits Zhang Daoling's
great?grandson, putatively the fourth Heavenly Master, with
settling the family at Longhushan (Dragon and Tiger Mountain); in
time his descendants-down to the present contested sixty?fifth
Heavenly Master living in Taiwan- made the extraordinary claim of
being able to transmit hereditarily the function of the Heavenly
Master and the power to grant salvation. Over the next twelve
centuries, the Zhangs turned Longhushan into a major holy site and
a household name in the Chinese world, and constructed a large
administrative center for the bureaucratic management of Chinese
society. They gradually built the Heavenly Master institution,
which included a sacred site; a patriarchal line of successive
Heavenly Masters wielding vast monopolistic powers to ordain humans
and gods; a Zhang lineage that nurtured talent and accumulated
wealth; and a bureaucratic apparatus comprised of temples, training
centers, and a clerical hierarchy. So well?designed was this
institution that it remained stable for more than a millennium, far
outlasting the longest dynasties, and had ramifications for every
city and village in imperial China. In this ambitious work, Vincent
Goossaert traces the Heavenly Master bureaucracy from medieval
times to the modern Chinese nation?state as well as its expansion.
His in?depth portraits of influential Heavenly Masters are
skillfully embedded in a large?scale analysis of the institution
and its rules, ideology, and vision of society.
In this rare firsthand account of an individual's pursuit of
sagehood, the early Ming dynasty scholar and teacher Wu Yubi
chronicles his progress and his setbacks, as he strives to
integrate the Neo-Confucian practices of self-examination and
self-cultivation into everyday life. In more than three hundred
entries, spanning much of his adult life, Wu paints a vivid
picture, not only of the life of the mind, but also of the life of
a teacher of modest means, struggling to make ends meet in a rural
community. This volume features M. Theresa Kelleher's superb
translation of Wu's journal, along with translations of more than a
dozen letters from his personal correspondence. A general
Introduction discusses Neo-Confucianism and the Ming dynasty, and
includes biographical information that puts the main work in
context. A substantial commentary on the journal discusses the
obstacles and supports Wu encounters in pursuit of his goal, the
conflict between discipline and restraint of the self and the
nurturing and expanding of the self, Wu's successes and failures,
and Wu's role as a teacher. Also included are a map of the Ming
dynasty, a pronunciation guide, a chronology of Chinese dynasties,
a glossary of names, a glossary of book titles, and suggestions for
further reading.
Wang Fuzhi (1619-1692), a Ming loyalist, was forced to find
solutions for both cultural and political crises of his time. In
this book Mingran Tan provides a comprehensive review of Wang
Fuzhi's understanding of historical events and his interpretation
of the Confucian classics. Tan explains what kind of Confucian
system Wang Fuzhi was trying to construct according to his motto,
"The Six Classics require me to create something new". He sought a
basis for Confucian values such as filial piety, humanity and
ritual propriety from political, moral and cosmological
perspectives, arguing that they could cultivate a noble
personality, beatify political governance, and improve social and
cosmological harmony. This inspired Wang Fuzhi's attempt to
establish a syncretic blend of the three branches of
Neo-Confucianism, i.e., Zhu Xi's (1130-1200) philosophy of
principle , Wang Yangming's (1472-1529) philosophy of mind and
Zhang Zai's (1020-1077) philosophy of qi (material force). The most
thorough work on Wang Fuzhi available in English, this study
corrects some general misunderstanding of the nature of Wang
Fuzhi's philosophy and helps readers to understand Wang Fuzhi from
an organic perspective. Building upon previous scholars' research
on Wang Fuzhi's notion of moral cultivation, Tan gives a
comprehensive understanding of how Wang Fuzhi improves social and
cosmological harmony through compliance with Confucian rituals.
This book presents the welfare regime of societies of Chinese
heritage as a liminal space where religious and state authorities
compete with each other for legitimacy. It offers a path-breaking
perspective on relations between religion and state in East Asia,
presenting how the governments of industrial societies try to
harness the human resources of religious associations to assist in
the delivery of social services. The book provides background to
the intermingling of Buddhism and the state prior to 1949; and the
continuation of that intertwinement in Taiwan and in other
societies where live many people of Chinese heritage since then.
The main contribution of this work is its detailed account of
Buddhist philanthropy as viewed from the perspectives of the state,
civil society, and Buddhists. This book will appeal to academics in
social sciences and humanities and broader audiences interested by
the social role of religions, charity, and NGOs, in social policy
implementation. It explores why governments turn to Buddhist
followers and their leaders and presents a detailed view of
Buddhist philanthropy. This book contributes to our understanding
of secularity in non-Western societies, as influenced by religions
other than Christianity.
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