Eastern Canons: Approaches to the Asian Classics

Front Cover
Wm. Theodore De Bary, William Theodore De Bary, Irene Bloom
Columbia University Press, 1990 - Education - 395 pages
The essays gathered here, in addition to those by editors Wm. Theodore de Bary and Irene Bloob, are written by leading scholars of Asian cultures--among them Donald Keene, Peter Awn, Barbara Stoler Miller, Ainslie Embree, Burton Watson, C.T. Hsia, Paul Anderer, and others. They introduce classics from the Islamic, Indian, Chinese, and Japanese traditions, providing entree to texts which have emerged as monuments of Asian thought and literature. Among the works discussed are the Qu'ran, the philosophy of history of Ibn Khaldun, the Upanishads, the epic Mahabarata, the philosopher Mencius, the Lotus Sutra, T'and Poetry, the Tale of Genji, and the poet Bash
 

Contents

ASIAN CLASSICS AS THE GREAT BOOKS
23
The Quran Peter
77
AlGhazali Peter
97
The Upanishads Joel Brereton
115
The Mahabharata Barbara Stoler Miller
147
Śakuntala Barbara Stoler Miller
165
Gandhis Autobiography Ainslie T Embree
177
CLASSICS OF THE CHINESE TRADITION
189
The Platform Sutra Philip Yampolsky
262
The Tale of Genji Haruo Shirane
290
The Tale of the Heike H Paul Varley
298
Essays in Idleness Donald Keene
320
Robert Goldman
348
John Van Doren
360
Paul Anderer
370
Copyright

The Lotus Sutra Wingtsit Chan
220

Common terms and phrases

About the author (1990)

William Theodore de Bary was born in the Bronx, New York on August 9, 1919. He graduated from Columbia College in 1941 and began pursuing Japanese studies at Harvard University. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, he was recruited by naval intelligence. He served at Pearl Harbor and later in Tokyo and Washington. After the war, he received a master's degree and a doctorate from Columbia. He taught Asian courses at Columbia and soon became head of Asian studies. From 1971 until 1978, he served as a vice president for academic affairs and provost. After formally retiring in 1989, he continued to teach with emeritus status until May 2017. He wrote or edited more than 30 books including The Great Civilized Conversation: Education for a World Community and Sources of Chinese Tradition. In 2013, he received the National Humanities Medal. He died on July 14, 2017 at the age of 97.

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