Studies of the reaction of European thinkers of the Enlightenment - Leibniz, Wolff, Hegel, Kant, et al -to Chinese culture and ideas. From the late sixteenth century on, with the sending of Jesuit missionaries to China, the West had the fortune of receiving first-hand reports about China from educated persons trained in the philosophy and sciences of the day. What these men said and wrote stirred some leading minds in Europe, among them Leibniz, Wolff and Kant. The essays in this volume, studies of what Western thinkers in the Enlightenment said and wrote about China, are important for everyone interested in East-West intellectual exchanges, for the ideas and prejudices of the shapers of the Western mind continue to the present day to influence Western relations with China. Contributors: Walter W. Davis, Knud Lundbaek, Arnold H. Rowbotham, David E. Mungello, Daniel J. Cook, Henry Rosemont Jr., Donald F. Lach, Johanna M. Menzel, R.C. Bald, Arthur F. Wright.

Recognized as one of the greatest philosophers in classical China, Chu Hsi (1130-1200) is especially known in the West through translations of one of his many works, theChin-su Lu. Julia Ching, a noted scholar of Neo-Confucian thought, provides the first book-length examination of Chu-Hsi's religious thought, based on extensive reading in both primary and secondary sources.

In this book, Julia Ching offers a survey of over 4,000 years of Chinese civilization through an examination of the relationship between kingship and mysticism. She investigates the sage-king myth and ideal, arguing that institutions of kingship were bound up with cultivation of trance states and communication with spirits. Over time, the sage-king myth became a model for the actual ruler. As a paradigm, it was also appropriated by private individuals who strove for wisdom without becoming kings. As the Confucian tradition interacted with the Taoist and the Buddhist, the religious character of spiritual and mystical cultivation became more pronounced. But the sage-king idea continued, promoting expectations of benevolent despotism rather than democratization in Chinese civilization.

In this book, Julia Ching offers a magisterial survey of over four thousand years of Chinese civilisation through an examination of the relationship between kingship and mysticism. She investigates the sage-king myth and ideal, arguing that institutions of kingship were bound up with cultivation of trance states and communication with spirits. Over time, these associations were retained, though sidelined, as the sage-king myth became a model for the actual ruler, with a messianic appeal for the ruled. As a paradigm, it also became appropriated by private individuals who strove for wisdom without becoming kings. As the Confucian tradition interacted with the Taoist and the Buddhist, the religious character of spiritual and mystical cultivation became more pronounced. But the sage-king idea continued, promoting expectations of benevolent despotism rather than democratisation in Chinese civilisation.