This book presents the American encounter with Asian religions through a wide range of documents - written and visual from elite and popular culture- dating from 1788 to the present. The entries are divided into four chronological periods. The first section traces the initial attempts to map the earliest contacts, up to 1840; the second section, from 1840 to 1924, presents the first real passages-from east to west and west to east; the third, from 1924 to 1965, sketches a drifting period when immigration had stopped and Euro-American interst in Asian religions was minimal; and the final section, which takes us to the present, covers a time when the encounter intensifies greatly.

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.

Edition bilingue. "Reveiller les morts" est extrait du dernier recueil de nouvelles de Lu Xun "Histoires anciennes, revisitees." Cette edition bilingue s'adresse au lecteur de chinois de niveau intermediaire souhaitant progresser dans la lecture de textes litteraires relativement aises. Etre a (presque) soi tout seul le fondateur d'une philosophie et le precurseur d'une grande religion n'autorise pourtant pas toutes les fantaisies ni tous les caprices, et Tchuang Tseu apprend a ses depens que tous les ressuscites ne seront pas forcement reconnaissants... Sous la forme d'une petite piece de theatre en un acte court, critique anachronique des charlatans se revendiquant du taoisme et de la soumission au pouvoir, l'auteur s'attaque au mepris des gourous et des intellectuels pour le petit peuple. Lu Xun s'empare des mythes et legendes les plus anciens de la Chine traditionnelle pour denoncer avec une feroce ironie les nombreux travers de sa propre epoque et de ses contemporains... Les huit recits tires de "Histoires anciennes, revisitees" sont celebrissimes en Chine mais beaucoup moins connus en Occident que le reste de son oeuvre de fiction.

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.

The cache of bamboo texts unearthed in the village of Guodian, Hubei Province, in 1993 is a rare and unique find in the history of Chinese philosophy and literature. This study renders the complex corpus of the Guodian texts into a more easily manageable form, incorporating the past several years of scholarly activity on these texts and providing them with a comprehensive introduction along with a complete and well-annotated translation into English. As the only archaeologically excavated corpus of philosophical manuscripts to emerge from a Warring States-period tomb, the Guodian texts provide us with a wealth of reliable information for gaining new insights into the textual and intellectual history of pre-imperial China. Given the prominence of Confucian works in the corpus, they serve to fill out much of the intellectual historical picture for the doctrines of roughly three generations of Confucian disciples who fell between the times of Confucius (551-479 BC) and Mencius (c. 390-305 BC). The manuscripts also hold great significance for the study of early Chinese paleography and phonology. Volume II offers introductions to and annotated translations of the manuscripts "Cheng zhi," "Zun deyi," "Xing zi ming chu," "Liu de," and "Yucong" 1-4, along with various appendixes. These include collation tables of witnesses to the Guodian "Laozi" passages and a running translation of all the Guodian texts.

In "Kwaio Religion," Roger Keesing examines how the Kwaio, challenged by 110 years of European colonialism and now by the militant Christianity of their own rapidly Westernizing nation, have managed to continue their ancestral ways. Drawing on fieldwork carried out over a lost 20 years, Keesing explores the phenomenological reality of world where one's group includes the living and the dead, where conversations with the spirits, and the sing of their presence and acts, are very much a part of everyday life. He describes conceptions of "mana" and "tabu" that shed revealing light on old issues regarding Oceanic religion. Keesing situates the elegant though largely implicit structures of Kwaio cosmology within a framework of the "political economy of knowledge," examining the distribution of expertise in the community and the uses of religion as ideology, and asking how symbolic systems are perpetuated and changed. Questioning some currently fashionable anthropological approaches to symbolism, myth, ritual, and cosmology--approaches Keesing characterizes as "cultural cryptography"-- "Kwaio Religion" challenges common assumptions about cultural symbols and shared meanings.

The Essential Mengzi offers a representative selection from Bryan Van Norden's acclaimed translation of the full work, including the most frequently studied passages and covering all of the work's major themes. An appendix of selections from the classic commentary of Zhu Xi--one of the most influential and insightful interpreters of Confucianism--keyed to relevant passages, provides access to the text and to its reception and interpretation. Also included are a general Introduction, timeline, glossary, and selected bibliography.

Composed more than 2,000 years ago during a turbulent period of Chinese history, the Dao de jing set forth an alternative vision of reality in a world torn apart by violence and betrayal. Daoism, as this subtle but enduring philosophy came to be known, offers a comprehensive view of experience grounded in a full understanding of the wonders hidden in the ordinary. Now in this luminous new translation, based on the recently discovered ancient bamboo scrolls, China scholars Roger T. Ames and David L. Hall bring the timeless wisdom of the Dao de jing into our contemporary world.

Though attributed to Laozi, “the Old Master,” the Dao de jing is, in fact, of unknown authorship and may well have originated in an oral tradition four hundred years before the time of Christ. Eschewing philosophical dogma, the Dao de jing set forth a series of maxims that outlined a new perspective on reality and invited readers to embark on a regimen of self-cultivation. In the Daoist world view, each particular element in our experience sends out an endless series of ripples throughout the cosmos. The unstated goal of the Dao de jing is self-transformation–the attainment of personal excellence that flows from the world and back into it. Responding to the teachings of Confucius, the Dao de jing revitalizes moral behavior by recommending a spontaneity made possible by the cultivated “habits” of the individual.

In this elegant volume, Ames and Hall feature the original Chinese texts of the Dao de jing and translate them into crisp, chiseled English that reads like poetry. Each of the eighty-one brief chapters is followed by clear, thought-provoking commentary exploring the layers of meaning in the text. The book’s extensive introduction is a model of accessible scholarship in which Ames and Hall consider the origin of the text, place the emergence of Daoist philosophy in its historical and political context, and outline its central tenets.

The Dao de jing is a work of timeless wisdom and beauty, as vital today as it was in ancient China. This new version will stand as both a compelling introduction to the complexities of Daoist thought and as the classic modern English translation.


From the Hardcover edition.

Most people think of the Tao Te Ching as a book on philosophy or a treatise on leadership. Yet there is a little-known treasure hidden within the familiar passages of Lao Tzu's work: step-by-step practical guidance for the spiritual journey. With Practicing the Tao Te Ching, renowned teacher Solala Towler reveals a new facet to this spiritual classic, offering accessible instructions paired with each of the 81 verses of the Tao Te Ching. "Tao is a way of deep reflection and learning from nature, considered the highest teacher," writes Towler. "It teaches us to follow the energy flows within the heavens, the earth, and our own bodies." With lucid instruction and deep insight, he guides you through meditations, movement and breathing practices, subtle energy exercises, and inner reflections-all to help you to embody Taoist wisdom in every aspect of your life.

The Tao of S is an engaging study of American racialization of Chinese and Asians, Asian American writing, and contemporary Chinese cultural production, stretching from the nineteenth century to the present. Sheng-mei Ma examines the work of nineteenth-century "Sinophobic" American writers, such as Bret Harte, Jack London, and Frank Norris, and twentieth-century "Sinophiliac" authors, such as John Steinbeck and Philip K. Dick, as well as the movies Crazy Rich Asians and Disney's Mulan and a host of contemporary Chinese authors, to illuminate how cultural stereotypes have swung from fearmongering to an overcompensating exultation of everything Asian. Within this framework Ma employs the Taoist principle of yin and yang to illuminate how roles of the once-dominant American hegemony-the yang-and the once-declining Asian civilization-the yin-are now, in the twenty-first century, turned upside down as China rises to write its side of the story, particularly through the soft power of television and media streamed worldwide.

Enduring Identities is an attempt to understand the continuing relevance of Shinto to the cultural identity of contemporary Japanese. The enduring significance of this ancient yet innovative religion is evidenced each year by the millions of Japanese who visit its shrines. They might come merely seeking a park-like setting or to make a request of the shrine's deities, asking for a marriage partner, a baby, or success at school or work; or they might come to give thanks for benefits received through the intercession of deities or to legitimate and sacralize civic and political activities. Through an investigation of one of Japan's most important and venerated Shinto shrines, Kamo Wake Ikazuchi Jinja (more commonly Kamigamo Jinja), the book addresses what appears through Western and some Asian eyes to be an exotic and incongruous blend of superstition and reason as well as a photogenic juxtaposition of present and past. Combining theoretical sophistication with extensive fieldwork and a deep knowledge of Japan, John Nelson documents and interprets the ancient Kyoto shrine's yearly cycle of rituals and festivals, its sanctified landscapes, and the people who make it viable. At local and regional levels, Kamigamo Shrine's ritual traditions (such as the famous Hollyhock Festival) and the strategies for their perpetuation and implementation provide points of departure for issues that anthropologists, historians, and scholars of religion will recognize as central to their disciplines. These include the formation of social memory, the role of individual agency within institutional politics, religious practice and performance, the shaping of sacred space and place, ethnic versus cultural identity, and the politics of historical representation and cultural nationalism. Nelson links these themes through a detailed ethnography about a significant place and institution, which until now has been largely closed to both Japanese and foreign scholars. In contrast to conventional notions of ideology and institutions, he shows how a religious tradition's lack of centralized dogma, charismatic leaders, and sacred texts promotes rather than hinders a broad-based public participation with a variety of institutional agendas, most of which have very little to do with belief. He concludes that it is this structural flexibility, coupled with ample economic, human, and cultural resources, that nurtures a reworking of multiple identities--all of which resonate with the past, fully engage the present, and, with care, will endure well into the future.

A beautifully clear and accessible explanation of how to live a Taoist life--by reknowned Taoist master Eva Wong.

Taoism isn’t a spiritual extracurricular activity, it’s an integral practice for living all of life to the fullest. The modern Taoist adept Eva Wong is your guide to living well according to the wisdom of this ancient system. She uses the ancient texts to demonstrate the Taoist masters’ approach to the traditional four aspects of life--the public, the domestic, the private, and the spiritual—and shows how learning to balance them is the secret to infusing your life with health, harmony, and deep satisfaction.​

This first Western-language translation of one of the great books of the Daoist religious tradition, the Taiping jing, or Scripture on Great Peace," documents early Chinese medieval thought and lays the groundwork for a more complete understanding of Daoism's origins. Barbara Hendrischke, a leading expert on the Taiping jing in the West, has spent twenty-five years on this magisterial translation, which includes notes that contextualize the scripture's political and religious significance. Virtually unknown to scholars until the 1970s, the Taiping jing raises the hope for salvation in a practical manner by instructing men and women how to appease heaven and satisfy earth and thereby reverse the fate that thousands of years of human wrongdoing has brought about. The scripture stems from the beginnings of the Daoist religious movement, when ideas contained in the ancient Laozi were spread with missionary fervor among the population at large. The Taiping jing demonstrates how early Chinese medieval thought arose from the breakdown of the old imperial order and replaced it with a vision of a new, more diverse and fair society that would integrate outsiders in particular women and people of a non-Chinese background.

In this volume, an interdisciplinary group of scholars explores the social history and anthropology of Daoism from the late nineteenth century to the present, focusing on the evolution of traditional forms of practice and community, as well as modern reforms and reinventions both within China and on the global stage. Essays investigate ritual specialists, body cultivation and meditation traditions, monasticism, new religious movements, state-sponsored institutionalization, and transnational networks.

How to connect with universal energy for inner peace, happiness, and individual and global healing
- How to transform the energy around us into positive loving energy
- How to perform the World Link meditation to unite with global consciousness
- How to fuse the observing mind, the conscious mind, and the mind of awareness
Western science now recognizes the three "minds" associated with the three tan tiens of Taoism: the observing mind centered in the brain, the conscious mind centered in the heart, and the mind of awareness centered in the lower abdomen. By unifying the three minds--what in Chinese is called "Yi"--we can transform the energy around us into positive loving energy and be empowered to manifest our goals and dreams. This can lead to a more balanced, less negative way of life and offers a way to gain inner peace, wholeness, and happiness as well as the ability to heal yourself and others.
In "The Healing Energy of Shared Consciousness," Master Mantak Chia shows how to fuse the three minds and form the Protective Sacred Circle of Fire, which creates a seal around us allowing in only good energy and intentions. He explains step-by-step how to perform the World Link meditation to connect with global and universal energy for inner peace, happiness, and healing. Accessible even for those who have never worked with the Universal Healing Tao, this practice offers a way to unite people all over the world in a form of shared consciousness that amplifies collective loving energy to benefit the world.

The Essential Analects offers a representative selection from Edward Slingerland's acclaimed translation of the full work, including passages covering all major themes. An appendix of selected traditional commentaries keyed to each passage provides access to the text and to its reception and interpretation. Also included are a glossary of terms and short biographies of the disciples of Confucius and the traditional commentators cited.

Fingers Pointing Towards the Moon was the first of a series of extraordinary spiritual manifestos written by the anonymous Wei Wu Wei. Like a master instructing every reader who has the dedication to read this book, the author maintains direct and unrelenting perspective, giving Fingers Pointing to the Moon its status as one of Zen Buddhism's essential classics. The depth of understanding evinced by Wei Wu Wei places him with Paul Reps, Alan Watts, and Philip Kapleau as one of the earliest and most profound interpreters of Zen.

This unique edition of the "Tao Te Ching features: - the first comprehensive verbatim translation of the entire text of the "Tao Te Ching; - literal character definitions that allow the reader to create his or her own interpretation; - a concordance section that enables the reader to track the different ways a single character is used throughout the work; - grammatical and interpretive notes on individual terms and verses, - a unique commentary on the first verse, which represents a complete spiritual teaching in itself; and- a literary translation of the "Tao Te Ching that can be read on its own or compared with the verbatim translation.

Immortal Wishes is a powerful ethnographic rendering of religious experiences of landscape, healing, and self-fashioning on a northern Japanese sacred mountain. Working at the intersection of anthropology, religion, and Japan studies, Ellen Schattschneider focuses on Akakura Mountain Shrine, a popular Shinto institution founded by a rural woman in the 1920s. For decades, local spirit mediums and worshipers, predominantly women, have undertaken extended periods of shugyo (ascetic discipline) within the shrine and on the mountain's slopes. Schattschneider argues that their elaborate, transforming repertoire of ritual practice and ascetic discipline has been generated by complex social and historical tensions largely emerging out of the uneasy status of the surrounding area within the modern nation's industrial and postindustrial economies.Schattschneider shows how, through dedicated work at the shrine including demanding ascents up the sacred mountain, the worshipers come to associate the rugged mountain landscape with their personal biographies, the life histories of certain exemplary predecessors and ancestors, and the collective biography of the extended congregation. She contends that this body of ritual practice presents worshipers with fields of imaginative possibilities through which they may dramatize or reflect upon the nature of their relations with loved ones, ancestors, and divinities. In some cases, worshipers significantly redress traumas in their own lives or in those of their families. In other instances, these ritualized processes lead to deepening crises of the self, the accelerated fragmentation of local households, and apprehension of possession by demons or ancestral forces. Immortal Wishes reveals how these varied practices and outcomes have over time been incorporated into the changing organization of ritual, space, and time on the mountainscape. For more information about this book and to read an excerpt, please click here.

This volume examines a category of Japanese divinities that centered on the concept of "world renewal" (yonaoshi). In the latter half of the Tokugawa period (1603-1867), a number of entities, both natural and supernatural, came to be worshipped as "gods of world renewal." These included disgruntled peasants who demanded their local governments repeal unfair taxation, government bureaucrats who implemented special fiscal measures to help the poor, and a giant subterranean catfish believed to cause earthquakes to punish the hoarding rich. In the modern period, yonaoshi gods took on more explicitly anti-authoritarian characteristics. During a major uprising in Saitama Prefecture in 1884, a yonaoshi god was invoked to deny the legitimacy of the Meiji regime, and in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the new religion Omoto predicted an apocalyptic end of the world presided over by a messianic yonaoshi god. Using a variety of local documents to analyze the veneration of yonaoshi gods, Takashi Miura looks beyond the traditional modality of research focused on religious professionals, their institutions, and their texts to illuminate the complexity of a lived religion as practiced in communities. He also problematizes the association frequently drawn between the concept of yonaoshi and millenarianism, demonstrating that yonaoshi gods served as divine rectifiers of specific economic injustices and only later, in the modern period and within the context of new religions such as Omoto, were fully millenarian interpretations developed. The scope of world renewal, in other words, changed over time. Agents of World Renewal approaches Japanese religion through the new analytical lens of yonaoshi gods and highlights the necessity of looking beyond the boundary often posited between the early modern and modern periods when researching religious discourses and concepts.