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Sources of Japanese Tradition (Volume I)
Volume 1 addresses the development, through the eighteenth century, of Shinto, Buddhism, and Confucianism.
Paperback, 506 pages
Published
March 22nd 1964
by Columbia University Press
(first published June 1958)
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This book didn’t interest me at first sight, however, I decided to read it bit by bit wherever it pleased me because it’s one of the two-volume set compiled by Ryusaku Tsunoda, Wm. Theodore de Bary and Donald Keene. I’m sorry I rarely know the first compiler but I’ve known Professors de Bary and Keene as the two imminent Japanologists and illustrious Japanophiles whose translated works from Japanese I always enjoy reading. Informed in its preface as “source readings” (p. v), we should take them
...more
Very useful source book, particularly on the evolution of Buddhism in Japan.
Sep 14, 2007
Nash
added it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Anyone interested in Japan, the Japanese people and anything Japanese.
I got to know this book first in its glorious hard-cover edition (heavy!) when I was at Waseda doing my research last year. And, guess what, I borrowed it from the library almost the whole time I was there and still couldn't finish it! It's a heavy read, ladies and gentlemen! I mean, it is by far the best authority and most recent compilation I could find on Japanese historical account.
There are two volumes of this book, I suppose. But since my interest is more on the development that led to the ...more
There are two volumes of this book, I suppose. But since my interest is more on the development that led to the ...more
Sep 15, 2014
James Violand
rated it
liked it
Recommends it for:
Japanese history buffs.
Shelves:
own
You must have a thorough knowledge of Japanese history before you pick up this work. With this precondition, I must say that it is very insightful but too focused on the evolution of all forms of Buddhism. Some parts (especially that dealing with the reactions to Western ideas) held my attention. Other sections I had to slog through.
Overall, I found the work unbalanced, but then again, perhaps the second volume will make up for the first's deficiencies.
Overall, I found the work unbalanced, but then again, perhaps the second volume will make up for the first's deficiencies.
If you're not versed in Japanese history, try and lay off reading this book until you do. Besides that, it does offer interesting insights in all facades of Japanese society throughout history. Especially interesting for those who want to delve deeper into the matter.
Well, if you want to learn more about the sources of Japanese tradition, this isn't a bad place to start.
Nice text book read, Some nice reference material.
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William Theodore de Bary (born 1919) is an East Asian studies expert at Columbia University, with the title John Mitchell Mason Professor of the University and Provost Emeritus.
De Bary graduated from Columbia College in 1941, where he was a student in the first iteration of Columbia's famed Literature Humanities course. He then briefly took up graduate studies at Harvard before the US entered the ...more
More about William Theodore de Bary...
De Bary graduated from Columbia College in 1941, where he was a student in the first iteration of Columbia's famed Literature Humanities course. He then briefly took up graduate studies at Harvard before the US entered the ...more
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