Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent anthology for the beginner or expert!
The writings of the 4th century B.C. "Taoist" Zhaungzi(Chuang-tzu) are among the great classics of world literature andphilosophy.They are also very difficult to understand.What are we tolearn from the story of the cicada, dove and quail that laugh at the hugePeng bird?How does a butcher cutting up an ox teach us to lead our lives? What did Zhuangzi learn when he awoke from a dream, unsure whether he wasZhuangzi, who had dreamt he was a butterfly, or a butterfly who is nowdreaming that he is Zhuangzi?

This collection of essays represents avariety of approaches and perspectives.Some papers compare Zhuangzi toother philosophers (including Plato, Sextus Empiricus, Nagarjuna, andDerrida); several discuss Zhuangzi's views on language and skillfulactivity; and most take stands on previous debates (e.g., is Zhuangzi amystic, skeptic, or relativist)?At the end of the volume there is anextensive bibliography of works about Zhuangzi.

I have used this textwith talented undergraduates, who have found the essays readable andinformative.Specialists like myself will also find much ofvalue.

The only comparable collection is Victor Mair's ExperimentalEssays on Chuang-tzu, which includes important papers by A.C. Graham, ChadHansen, and Lee Yearley.(The Kjellberg/Ivanhoe volume includes a newessay by Yearley, and a critique of Hansen's earlier work.) ... Read more

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The family is central to societies that have been profoundly influenced by the Confucian, and later Neo-Confucian, mandate. This book examines the nature of family continuities and the internal family social and psychological dynamics in societies that comprise the Confucian core of Asia, namely China (including Taiwan), Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and Singapore. Confucian ideas are discussed from diverse perspectives: religion, philosophy, and history; anthropology and sociology; psychology, psychoanalysis, and psychiatry. Both abiding psychological and social similarities as well as cultural differences are addressed. The volume provides insights on both the positive social cohesiveness found within Asian families and on the possible tensions and even psychopathological responses that may be engendered within a contemporary Confucian family. In addition, the work explores the common Confucian family-cultural background that must be understood to interpret both the scholastic and entrepreneurial success of East Asians wherever they have settled in the Americas and the recent economic push in their homelands. ... Read more

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This is the first work available in English which addresses Zhuangzi’s thought as a whole. It presents an interpretation of the Zhuangzi, a book in thirty-three chapters that is the most important collection of Daoist texts in early China.

The author introduces a complex reading that shows the unity of Zhuangzi’s thought, in particular in his views of action, language, and ethics. By addressing methodological questions that arise in reading Zhuangzi, a hermeneutics is developed which makes understanding Zhuangzi’s religious thought possible.

A theoretical contribution to comparative philosophy and the cross-cultural study of religious traditions, the book serves as an introduction to Daoism for graduate students in religion, philosophy, and East Asian Studies.

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Presenting the commentary of the third-century sage Wang Bi, this book provides a Chinese way of reading the Daodejing, one which will surprise Western readers. ... Read more

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A new reading of Daoism, arguing that it originated in a particular textual tradition distinct from Confucianism and other philosophical traditions of early China. ... Read more

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This is a new interpretation of Chinese Taoist philosophy from the view of anthropology. psychology, and social biology. The idle life of ancient egalitarian society is regarded as the Taoist ideal, and to bridge the gap between Taoist wisdom and the daily life of ordinary people in modern society, human nature, freedom, happiness, death/immortality are elucidated on six levels, namely, the biological, social, cultural, intellectual, spiritual, and cosmic levels. The introduction of the concepts, genetically coded primary and man-made secondary societies, basic human nature and peripheral potentials, and the unique angle from the spare time of self-enjoyment shed considerable new light on some common issues like the cultural difference between the East and the West. The author believes the world has now entered a new era after the Cold War ended, and we need a new way of life. The ancient wisdom of Chinese Taoist philosophy provides a good choice, since it emphasizes the value of naturalness and simplicity, which are well complementary to the Western philosophy of materialism. Furthermore, the modern world with a powerless United Nations as a platform for countries to work out their difference at various levels is pretty much like the political situation of China from 2200 to 476 BC when human nature was highly respected in politics and in life, and it eventually gave birth to Chinese Taoist philosophy. Early Taoist writers pursued a style of combining literary art with philosophical exploration to achieve a special humorous and relaxing effect. To follow those examples, the author tried to create an artistic mood in line with Taoism for reading.

For this book, though excellent as it is, a very limited number of copies were printed, and only a few copies have been sold locally. Its new approach to an old topic will always make a good buy to those who are interested.

This paper back book has 243 pages, 17 illustrations, 15 chapters with bibliography and a brief index.

The following is the Table of Contents from the book:

A Few Words About this Book to Guide the Reader

The Chinese Names >P>Chapter 1 The Pre-Understanding Phase in Human History

Chapter 2 The Essence of Taoist Philosophy

Chapter 3 The Primary and the Secondary Society

Chapter 4 The Founders of Taoist Philosophy: Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu

Chapter 5 Great Yu as a Branching Point in the Course of Chinese Cultural Evolution

Chapter 6 Spare Time and Social Pyramids

Chapter 7 The Multiple Level Operation of Our World

Chapter 8 Human Nature

Chapter 9 Death and Immortality

Chapter 10 The Taoist Concept of FreedomChapter 11 Enjoym

ent and Happiness

Chapter 12 Life Cultivation

Chapter 13 Aesthetics

Chapter 14 The South and The North

Chapter 15 Social Implications

Key Terms
Chapter Summaries
Bibliography
Index
... Read more

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A chronological account of the development of the Two-Truth theory which forms the foundation of T'ien T'ai philosophy, the teaching of the Threefold Truth, and includes an annotated translation of Chih-i's Fa hua hsuan i.

"...a "must" for all major libraries..." Choice

"...a "must" for all Buddhist collections..." Religious Studies Review ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Minor Clarification about contents of the book
Hello,

I am studying Nichiren Buddhism, and Nichiren often refers to Zhiyi's works. I originally purchased this thinking I was going to get a translation, with annotations, of Zhiyi's "Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra".

Instead it contains Miao-Lo's "Annotations on Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra"! Nevertheless, it is an excellent translation, many footnotes to give clarification and background to various concepts and terms.

This is the only reason I bought the book, to be honest, for the translation of the "Words and Phrases"...so I have very little to say about the book otherwise. The translation of Miao-Lo's work is excellent, however, so I give it a 4 stars (5 if it were Zhiyi's work translated!). ... Read more

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Huang's book analyzes the major Neo-Confucian philosophers from the eleventh to the sixteenth centuries. Focusing on metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical philosophical issues, this study presents the historical development of the Neo-Confucian school, an outgrowth of ancient Confucianism, and characterizes its thought, background, and influence. Key concepts--for example tai-ji (supreme ultimate), xin (mind), and ren (humanity)--as interpreted by each thinker are discussed in detail. Also examined are the two major schools that developed during this period, Cheng-Zhu, School of Principle, and Lu-Wang, School of Mind. These schools, despite different philosophical orientations, were convinced that their common goal, to bring about a harmonious relationships between man and the universe and between man and man, could be achieved through different ways of philosophizing. To understand the Chinese mind, it is necessary to understand Neo-Confucianism as a reformation of early Confucianism. ... Read more

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Challenges accepted beliefs that Confucianism is a cause of women’s oppression and explores Confucianism as an ethical system compatible with gender parity. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (6)

Not a bad book
If you want to learn about classical Chinese thought you can do that here.It is breezy, readable, and not absurd.I think Arthur Waley: Three Ways of Thought in Ancient China is very much better for this.Waley is equally accessible, and equally old-fashioned or dated, but gives deeper information on the ideas and is more passionately involved with them.

As to the later ideas, notably Mao, you might expect much from a book that says "In the hundred years from mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth century China has changed more profoundly than in the previous two thousand years" (p. 235).But this part is just 20 pages long.It is much better than the earlier parts.It is more vigorous and more informative.I do not know any single short source that is better.But of course there are many much better longer intellectual and political histories of twentieth century China.

Creel shows a serious misunderstanding when he says "to most Western readers a page that is sprinkled with Chinese names becomes rather forbidding," and his back cover promises "the text is not cluttered with Chinese names."First, the problem is not only with Chinese names.It is wearing to read any book that introduces four or five new names on each page and gives each one a brief paragraph before moving on.And, second, Creel often does this himself, despite his promise, often citing the historian Yulan Feng as source.Feng is often transcribed as Fung.He wrote a two volume History of Chinese Philosophy in the 1930s, in Chinese, still widely used, and he wrote a one volume SHORT HISTORY OF CHINESE PHILOSOPHY largely aimed at westerners but still much longer than this book by Creel.Both available from Amazon, they are more demanding than this by Creel or the book by Waley mentioned above.

Creel was a great expert, at the University of Chicago, and it was no easy thing in terms of the political situation to write a book like this in the US in 1953.But the result is not a very good book.

Good, brief, readable synopsis
Published in 1953, this book is a bit dated, but it's a good, brief and readable synopsis of Chinese philosophy's history and main concepts.It starts off a bit weakly, with rather broad generalizations about Chinese thought and culture and a less-than critical take on Confucius, apparently treating the entire Analects as representing reliable records of his statements.It's generally believed these were compiled over a long period, with some material neither originating with Confucius nor representing his thought.A couple chapters are markedly Taoist and even anti-Confucian, but Creel only mentions them in passing, suggesting they can be reconciled with Confucian thought.It's hard to see how, but Creel doesn't elaborate.No doubt Creel knew his subject well and the simplistic impression is due to brevity, but a caveat or two would have helped.

However, Creel becomes considerably more critical regarding both texts and concepts as he moves on to Mo Tzu, Mencius, the Taoists, Hsun Tzu, the Legalists, etc.There's still simplification, but this can't be avoided in such a short work, and his combining philosophical with political history is quite helpful.This is particularly true as Chinese philosophy has often had a pronounced political orientation (even Taoism, in reacting against this focus), as many of the leading thinkers served in government or aspired to, and as the state and emperors have typically aligned themselves publicly with a particular philosophy (with varying degrees of sincerity).

Another strength is the book's inclusion of post-classical philosophy, continuing through the Communist state's establishment.It's hard to find brief, popular works on Chinese philosophy that cover its entire history, much less ones that do it well and place ideas in historical and political context (Fung Yu-Lan's Short History may be another, but I've just started it).Necessarily the result is a synopsis rather than treatment in depth, but Creel does this quite well.In little space he sheds considerable light on the philosophical eclecticism of the Han Dynasty, Buddhism's introduction to China and its evolution and impacts there, neo-Confucianism, reactions against it, and Western influence.

This background is helpful in trying to understand China's difficulties and struggles during the twentieth century, and Creel gives a very plausible explanation for the quick and fairly widespread acceptance of Communism by both the Chinese people and the intellectuals.At the end of the book he lapses again into some breezy generalizations and perhaps a touch of romanticizing, although not without some useful insights.Overall it's a very good book and one wishes Creel were available for a final word on China today.

One of the best books on Chinese political philosophy
By far the best study ever written of Chinese philosophy. Particular attention should be paid to Chapters VII, VIII and IX to understand the Asian mind. The influence of the totalitarian vision of Legalism on Chinese thought for thousands of years is not fully understood. The Chinese Empire, created in 221 B.C., was a fusion of Legalism and Confucianism. Chairman Mao was a great admirer of the first Chinese Emperor, who hated Confucianism and was a total Legalist. Indeed, modern "Communism" in China is really very much a continuation of some past trends. Check my Listamania list for more books on Legalism.

Compact, concise book, very informative.
H.G. Creel writes a wonderful book tracing the roots of Chinese thought from the pre-Confucian era to Mao Tse-Tung.Written in an easy to understand fashion, the book makes you want to learn more about the subject.

Old-fashioned but enjoyable
I just picked up a beautiful old copy of this at Moe's books in Berkeley.It dates from the early fifties.I don't know if this Chicago edition is simply a reprint, but I am finding it to be a throroughly well-written and enjoyable book.At times it simplifies and idealizes where perhaps a contemporary academic account might be more cautious, but this gives it a certain romance that accords with the subject matter. ... Read more

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This book continues a comparative project begun with the authors' Thinking Through Confucius and Anticipating China. It continues the comparative discussions by focusing upon three concepts--self, truth, transcendence--which best illuminate the distinctive characters of the two cultures. "Self" specifies the meaning of the human subject, "truth" considers that subject's manner of relating to the world of which it is a part, and "transcendence" raises the issue as to whether the self/world relationship is grounded in something other than the elements resourced immediately in self and world. Considered together, the discussions of these concepts advertise in a most dramatic fashion the intellectual barriers currently existing between Chinese and Western thinkers. More importantly, these discussions reformulate Chinese and Western vocabularies in a manner that will enhance the possibilities of intercultural communication. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Academic Logorrhea
An obviously learned and valuable book however the author detracts from this by his penchant for using 10 words when 5 would suffice and by creating terminology for no obvious reason than to advance the esoteric nature of his topic.
Unfortunately, this is quite representative of the state of academic writing today, with the social sciences often in the forefront.Someone needs to explain to our pretentiously learned academics that simplicity is the mark of a more complete understanding of the subject, not less. ... Read more

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Chinese philosophy specialists examine the Zhuangzi, a third century B.C.E. Daoist classic, in this collection of interpretive essays. The Zhuangzi is a celebration of human creativity-its language is lucid and opaque; its images are darkly brilliant; its ideas are seriously playful. Without question, it is one of the most challenging achievements of human literary culture. Thematically, the Zhuangzi offers diverse insights into how to develop an appropriate and productive attitude to one's life in this world. Resourced over the centuries by Chinese artists and intellectuals alike, this text has provoked a commentarial tradition that rivals any masterpiece of world literature. Wandering at Ease in the Zhuangzi continues the interpretive tradition as Western scholars shed light on selected passages from the difficult text, offering the needed mediation between available translations of the Zhuangzi and the reader's process of understanding. Taken as a whole, this anthology is a primer on how to read the Zhuangzi. ... Read more

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Explores how the flood myths of early China provided a template for that society’s major social and political institutions. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Encyclopedia of Religion, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 9866 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.The second edition of this highly regarded encyclopedia, preserving the best of the first edition's cross-cultural approach, while emphasizing religion's role within everyday life and as a unique experience from culture to culture, this new edition is the definitive work in the field for the 21st century. An international team of scholars and contributors have reviewed, revised and added to every word of the classic work, making it relevant to the questions and interests of all researchers. ... Read more