Transcendentalism is well-known as a peculiarly American philosophical and religious movement. Less well-known is the extent to which such famous Transcendentalists as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau drew on religions of Asia for their inspiration. Arthur Versluis offers a comprehensive study of the relationship between the American Transcendentalists and Asian religions. He argues that an influx of new information about these religions shook nineteenth-century American religious consciousness to the core. With the publication of ever more material on Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism, the Judeo-Christian tradition was inevitably placed as just one among a number of religious traditions. Fundamentalists and conservatives denounced this influx as a threat, but the Transcendentalists embraced it, poring over the sacred books of Asia to extract ethical injunctions, admonitions to self-transcendence, myths taken to support Christian doctrines, and manifestations of a supposed coming universal religion. The first major study of this relationship since the 1930s, American Transcendentalism and Asian Religions is also the first to consider the post-Civil War Transcendentalists, such as Samuel Johnson and William Rounseville Alger. Examining the entire range of American Transcendentalism, Versluis's study extends from the beginnings of Transcendentalist Orientalism in Europe to its continuing impact on twentieth-century American culture. This exhaustive and enlightening work sheds important new light on the history of religion in America, comparative religion, and nineteenth-century American literature and popular culture.

"In 12 excellent essays by scholars East and West, this collection explores the many dimensions of Heidegger's relation to Eastern thinking.... Because of the quality of the contributions, the eminence of the many contributors... this volume must be considered an indispensable reference on the subject. Highly recommended." --Choice.

This volume focuses on contemporary Confucianism, and collects essays by famous sinologists such as Guy Alitto, John Makeham, Tse-ki Hon and others. The content is divided into three sections - addressing the "theory" and "practice" of contemporary Confucianism, as well as how the two relate to each other - to provide readers a more meaningful understanding of contemporary Confucianism and Chinese culture. In 1921, at the height of the New Culture Movement's iconoclastic attack on Confucius, Liang Shuming ( ) fatefully predicted that in fact the future world culture would be Confucian. Over the nine decades that followed, Liang's reputation and the fortunes of Confucianism in China rose and fell together. So, readers may be interested in the question whether it is possible that a reconstituted "Confucianism" might yet become China's spiritual mainstream and a major constituent of world culture.

The I Ching has influenced thinkers and artists throughout the history of Chinese philosophy. This new, accessible translation of the entire early text brings to life the hidden meanings and importance of China's oldest classical texts. Complemented throughout by insightful commentaries, the I Ching: A Critical Translation of the Ancient Text simplifies the unique system of hexagrams lying at the centre of the text and introduces the cultural significance of key themes including yin and yang, gender and ethics. As well as depicting all possible ethical situations, this new translation shows how the hexagram figures can represent social relationships and how the order of lines can be seen as a natural metaphor for higher or lower social rank. Introduced by Hon Tze-Ki, an esteemed scholar of the text, this up-to-date translation uncovers and explains both the philosophical and political interpretations of the text. For a better understanding of the philosophical and cosmological underpinning the history of Chinese philosophy, the I Ching is an invaluable starting point.

The Ch'ing scholar-thinker Tai Chen (1724-1777) was a passionate explorer. He loved words, and his most important philosophical treatise, the Meng Tzu tzu-I shu-cheng (An evidential study of the meaning of terms in the Mencius), is an exhaustive search for the meaning of the words first uttered by Mencius in the fourth century B.C. This book by Ann-ping Chin and Mansfield Freeman is the first complete and annotated English translation of that treatise. Drawing on scholarship from the eighteenth century to the present, it also includes two essays that reconstruct Tai Chen's life and time and reinterpret his thought. Unlike most of the evidential scholars of his day, Tai Chen was not satisfied merely with providing reason and proof for his reading. He was interested in the life of words as their meaning changes with the vicissitudes of time. Tai Chen felt that the terms in the Mencius, garbled by the Sung and Ming thinkers who had come under the influence of Buddhism and Taoism, would no longer have made sense to Mencius himself. Key Confucian concepts, such as "principle" and "nature," had become "blood-less" moral constructs. Tai Chen preferred their primeval meaning. Intellectual historians of this century have hailed him as a progressive thinker and a social critic, but he saw himself in a simpler role: as a reader striving to understand every word in his text.

With extensive research and creative interpretations, Dasan's Noneo gogeum ju (Old and New Commentaries of the Analects) has been evaluated in the academia of Korean Studies as a crystallization of his studies on the Confucian classics. Dasan (Jeong Yak-yong: 1762-1836) attempted through this book to synthesize and overcome the lengthy scholarly tradition of the classical studies of the Analects, leading it not only to represent one of the greatest achievements of Korean Confucianism but also demonstrate an innovative prospect for the progress of Confucian philosophy, positioning it as one of the ground-breaking works in all Confucian legacies in East Asia. Originally consisting of forty volumes in traditional book binding, his Noneo gogeum ju contains one hundred and seventy-five new interpretations on the Analects, hundreds of arguments about the original meanings of the Analects commentaries, hundreds of references to the scholarly works of the Analects, thousands of supportive quotations from various East Asian classics for the author's arguments, and hundreds of philological discussions. This book is the second volume of an English translation of Noneo gogeum ju with the translator's comments on the innovative ideas and interpretations of Dasan on the Analects.

This translation captures the terse and enigmatic beauty of the ancient original and resists the tendency toward interpretive paraphrase found in many other editions. Along with the complete translation, Lombardo and Addiss provide one or more key lines from the original Chinese for each of the eighty-one sections, together with a transliteration of the Chinese characters and a glossary commenting on the pronunciation and meaning of each Chinese character displayed. This greatly enhances the reader's appreciation of how the Chinese text works and feels and the different ways it can be translated into English.

This book brings together the insights of theories of management and marketing to give an original view of the organizational dynamics of globalizing Asian New Religious Movements (NRMs) and established religions. Seventeen authors in this collection have recast their data on individual Asian religions and social movements to focus on the way these organizations are managed in an overseas or global context, by examining the structure, organizational culture, management style, leadership principles and marketing strategies of the religious movements they had hitherto studied from the perspective of the sociology of religion, or religious studies. The book examines strategies for global proselytization and outcomes in a variety of local ethnographic contexts, thus contributing to the scholarly work on the 'glocalization' of religions.

A luxury, keep-sake edition of an ancient Chinese scripture

This ancient text, fundamental to Taoism, has become a source of inspiration and guidance for millions in modern society. It's focus on attunement, rather than mindless striving, offers an alternative to command-and-control leadership and a different way of seeing personal success - a position that has led to this ancient Chinese text becoming an internationally bestselling personal development guide. Now the text has been given a makeover and this deluxe, gift edition is set to become the market leader, following in the footsteps of the other bestselling Capstone Classic editions.

Includes: Paints a picture of a person in full attunementIllustrates how fulfillment and peace, without struggle, can deliver to us what we need and desireAn alternative way to view personal successA new introduction by Tom Butler Bowdon, the classic personal development expert

A main pillar of Chinese tradition and culture is the Lunar Calendar and the many festivals and stories it encompasses. Though most explorations of Taoism take place within the realm of scripture, exercises, formal lectures, and meditation, in "The Lunar" Tao Ming-Dao looks to the Lunar Calendar and highlights where these festivals and stories coincide with Taoism. Each day of the Lunar year is represented with a reading meditation, Chinese illustrations, and interesting facts about festivals and traditions, providing readers with the context that gives Taoism such depth and resonance. Unlike any other book, "The Lunar Tao" gives readers a new way to explore Taoism and shows readers a way to include the tenets of Taoism into daily life.

Christian dialogic writings flourished in the Catholic missions in late Ming China. This study focuses on the mission work of the Italian Jesuit Giulio Aleni (Ai Rulue , 1582-1649) in Fujian and the unique text Kouduo richao (Diary of Oral Admonitions, 1630-1640) that records the religious and intellectual conversations among the Jesuits and local converts. By examining the mechanisms of dialogue in Kouduo richao and other Christian works distinguished by a certain dialogue form, the author of the present work aims to reveal the formation of a hybrid Christian-Confucian identity in late Ming Chinese religious experience. By offering the new approach of dialogic hybridization, the book not only treats dialogue as an important yet underestimated genre in late Ming Christian literature, but it also uncovers a self-other identity complex in the dialogic exchanges of the Jesuits and Chinese scholars. Giulio Aleni, Kouduo richao, and Christian-Confucian Dialogism in Late Ming Fujian is a multi-faceted investigation of the religious, philosophical, ethical, scientific, and artistic topics discussed among the Jesuits and late Ming scholars. This comprehensive research echoes what the distinguished Sinologist Erik Zurcher (1928-2008) said about the richness and diversity of Chinese Christian texts produced in the 17th and 18th centuries. Following Zurcher's careful study and annotated full translation of Kouduo richao (Monumenta Serica Monograph Series, LVI/1-2), the present work features a set of new findings beyond the endeavours of Zurcher and other scholars. With the key concept of Christian-Confucian dialogism, it tells the intriguing story of Aleni's mission work and the thriving Christian communities in late Ming Fujian.

This new 4 volume collection is an authoritative anthology containing the best scholarship on aspects of religion in contemporary China. The articles will focus on religious beliefs, practices and organisations as well as on the interactive relations between religion and other dimensions of communal, social, political and economic life in Mainland China and overseas Chinese communities.

Simply written, and with a view to taking the wisdom of Confucius out of the hands of the academics and the philosophers and making it accessible to the general reader, Confucius From the Heart gives us a contemporary Confucius, one who can teach us how to attain spiritual happiness, adjust our daily routines and find our place in modern life. Yu Dan argues that his sayings, or Analects - far from being merely interesting quotes from ancient lore, of little use in our hectic, stress-filled world. Instead, they are simple truths that can speak to each and every one of us and help us lead better, happier, calmer lives.

The philosopher and poet Vladimir Solovyov (1853-1900) is largely unknown to English readers, though translations of his works do exist. This book presents his central teachings and analyses his treatment of the non-Christian religions, Buddhism and Taosim in particular. This now makes it more possible to reassess his religious philosophy as a whole. The book will be of interest to students of comparative religion, theology, philosophy and Russian intellectual history.

In Confucian Rituals and Chinese Villagers, Yonghua Liu presents a detailed study of how a southeastern Chinese community experienced and responded to the process whereby Confucian rituals - previously thought unfit for practice by commoners - were adopted in the Chinese countryside and became an integral part of village culture, from the mid fourteenth to mid twentieth centuries. The book examines the important but understudied ritual specialists, masters of rites (lisheng), and their ritual handbooks while showing their crucial role in the ritual life of Chinese villagers. This discussion of lisheng and their rituals deepens our understanding of the ritual aspect of popular Confucianism and sheds new light on social and cultural transformations in late imperial China.

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. This volume in the Contemporary Anarchist Studies series focuses on anti-statist critiques in ancient and modern China and demonstrates that China does not have an unchallenged authoritarian political culture. Treating anarchism as a critique of centralized state power, the work first examines radical Daoist thought from the 4th century BCE to the 9th century CE and compares Daoist philosophers and poets to Western anarchist and utopian thinkers. This is followed by a survey of anarchist themes in dissident thought in the People's Republic of China from 1949 to the present. A concluding chapter discusses how Daoist anarchism can be applied to any anarchist-inspired radical critique today. This work not only challenges the usual ideas of the scope and nature of dissent in China, it also provides a unique comparison of ancient Chinese Daoist anarchism to Western anarchist. Featuring previously untranslated texts, such as the 9th century Buddhist anarchist tract, the Wunengzi, and essays from the PRC press, it will be an essential resource to anyone studying anarchism, Chinese political thought, political dissent, and political history.

This volume presents both a historical and a systematic examination of the philosophy of classical Confucianism. Taking into account newly unearthed materials and the most recent scholarship, it features contributions by experts in the field, ranging from senior scholars to outstanding early career scholars. The book first presents the historical development of classical Confucianism, detailing its development amidst a fading ancient political theology and a rising wave of creative humanism. It examines the development of the philosophical ideas of Confucius as well as his disciples and his grandson Zisi, the Zisi-Mencius School, Mencius, and Xunzi. Together with this historical development, the book analyzes and critically assesses the philosophy in the Confucian Classics and other major works of these philosophers. The second part systematically examines such philosophical issues as feeling and emotion, the aesthetic appreciation of music, wisdom in poetry, moral psychology, virtue ethics, political thoughts, the relation with the Ultimate Reality, and the concept of harmony in Confucianism. The Philosophy of Classical Confucianism offers an unparalleled examination to the philosophers, basic texts and philosophical concepts and ideas of Classical Confucianism as well as the recently unearthed bamboo slips related to Classical Confucianism. It will prove itself a valuable reference to undergraduate and postgraduate university students and teachers in philosophy, Chinese history, History, Chinese language and Culture.

A new generation of Confucian scholars is coming of age. China is reawakening to the power and importance of its own culture. This volume provides a unique view of the emerging Confucian vision for China and the world in the 21st century. Unlike the Neo-Confucians sojourning in North America who recast Confucianism in terms of modern Western values, this new generation of Chinese scholars takes the authentic roots of Confucian thought seriously. This collection of essays offers the first critical exploration in English of the emerging Confucian, non-liberal, non-social-democratic, moral and political vision for China s future. Inspired by the life and scholarship of Jiang Qing who has emerged as China's exemplar contemporary Confucian, this volume allows the English reader access to a moral and cultural vision that seeks to direct China s political power, social governance, and moral life. For those working in Chinese studies, this collection provides the first access in English to major debates in China concerning a Confucian reconceptualization of governance, a critical Confucian assessment of feminism, Confucianism functioning again as a religion, and the possibility of a moral vision that can fill the cultural vacuum created by the collapse of Marxism.

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Catherine Despeux's book Taoism and Self Knowledge is a study of the Internal Alchemical text "Chart for the Cultivation of Perfection." It begins with an analysis of pictographic and symbolic representation of the body in early Taoism after which the author examines different extant versions of the "Chart" as it was transmitted among Quanzhen groups in the Qing dynasty. The book is comprised of four main parts: the principal parts of the body and their nomenclature in Internal Alchemy, the spirits in the human body, and the alchemical processes and procedures used in thunder rituals and self-cultivation. This is a revised, expanded edition of the original French edition Taoisme et connaissance de soi. La carte de la culture de la perfection (Xiuzhen tu) Paris, 2012.