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The Ideals of the East: With Special Reference to the Art of Japan
by
The 1904 book that famously declared “Asia is one” was among the first studies in English to reference Zen as it explored the roots of Japanese beauty. Like the author’s The Book of Tea, this volume emphasized the spiritual ideals of Asian, and especially Japanese, art.
Kakuzo Okakura (1863–1913) was an administrator and scholar whose writings helped shape the West’s early ...more
Kakuzo Okakura (1863–1913) was an administrator and scholar whose writings helped shape the West’s early ...more
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Paperback, 152 pages
Published
April 1st 2007
by Stone Bridge Press
(first published 1903)
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Start your review of The Ideals of the East: With Special Reference to the Art of Japan
Feb 07, 2014
Bahia
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review of another edition
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2014-books-read,
non-fiction
This book was written during the Meiji Period and as such does not have a modern perspective. It is also quite dense and meandering. However, it does provide an overview of art through out the history of Japan. Okakura opens the book with "Asia is one" and argues that all of Asia is interconnected. While there is a sense of Okakura's feeling about Japanese superiority, it highlights the flow of ideas throughout East Asia and the impact that Okakura believes this had on Japanese art. The book als
...more
May 21, 2016
Andrada
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
japanese-books,
nonfiction-essays
The Ideals of the East was one of the first books to give Western readers an Eastern perspective on Asian aesthetic ideals and it was perhaps Okakura’s intention to correct the conclusions of foreign scholars with a limited cultural understanding of Asia by writing it.
It makes for a very fascinating read, not only for its general view of Japanese and Asian art in a historical context, but also because of the unique perspective Okakura offers of Asian views before the 20th century political wind ...more
It makes for a very fascinating read, not only for its general view of Japanese and Asian art in a historical context, but also because of the unique perspective Okakura offers of Asian views before the 20th century political wind ...more
Dec 30, 2019
Sephreadstoo
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review of another edition
Shelves:
giappone,
saggistica
Interessante spunto sull'estetica e l'arte giapponese partendo dagli albori - e quindi la forte influenza indiana e cinese - fino al 1902, anno della pubblicazione del libro.
Okakura, morto nel 1912, copre fino al periodo Meiji e dunque questo libro è da intendersi privo dell'evoluzione artistica giapponese dal 1900 ad oggi. Non è da considerarsi un compendio, quanto più un excursus che offre interessanti spunti di approfondimento sia dell'arte che della storia del giappone. Il volume, ben curato ...more
Okakura, morto nel 1912, copre fino al periodo Meiji e dunque questo libro è da intendersi privo dell'evoluzione artistica giapponese dal 1900 ad oggi. Non è da considerarsi un compendio, quanto più un excursus che offre interessanti spunti di approfondimento sia dell'arte che della storia del giappone. Il volume, ben curato ...more
Skimmed, so I may be somewhat off, but this seemed like bombastic 19th century style nationalism to me. I found it fairly unpleasant and vaguely (and sometimes not so vaguely) racist. I think it’d be a better idea to find a more modern book covering these topics. Came off as excessively abstract and dry as well.
This book is unreadable.
A sample passage, picked out more-or-less at random:
A sample passage, picked out more-or-less at random:
Buddhism, the predominating impulse of the period, was, of course, that of the second Indian (monastic) phase. Gensho (Hiouen-Tsang) was a pupil of Mitrasena, a disciple of Vasubandhu, and through his great translations and commentaries he, on his return from India, inaugurated the new school known as the Hosso sect, of which the idea seems to have been at work even before his time. Kenshu, assisted by Gissananda of Cent...more
This book is filled with useful information, but it is a very dry read. I only recently discovered my passion for reading so maybe it's inexperience, but I found it really hard to keep up with Mr. Okakura's writing style, getting lost in all his rhetoric. I think of 'Ideals of the East' more as reference type read in the sense that it's not very interesting, but chuck full of history.
...more
This book follows the evolution of art through many stages, from the earliest recorded times to modern ones. The ideals of the East shows us just what makes the Japanese art so distinctive and unique.
Written in the early 1900s, this book describes the cultural evolution of asian art, from a Japanese perspective. Densely written, it's slow going, but contains some interesting facts and may or may not be worth it to you, depending on your level of fascination with asian art influences.
...more
This is a historical primary source.
Outdated nowadays, but very helpful for seeing perspectives of Art History and Japanese Art in the early 20th century.
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Okakura Kakuzō (岡倉覚三), also known as Okakura Tenshin (岡倉 天心), was a Japanese scholar who contributed the development of arts in Japan. Outside Japan, he is chiefly remembered today as the author of 'The Book of Tea'.
Born in Yokohama to parents originally from Fukui, Okakura learned English while attending a school operated by Christian missionary, Dr. Curtis Hepburn. At 15, he entered Tokyo Imperi ...more
Born in Yokohama to parents originally from Fukui, Okakura learned English while attending a school operated by Christian missionary, Dr. Curtis Hepburn. At 15, he entered Tokyo Imperi ...more
![Quotes About Tea and Life From Okakura Kakuzo [Color Illustrations and Photographs]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1419629317l/24106491._SX98_.jpg "Quotes About Tea and Life From Okakura Kakuzo [Color Illustrations and Photographs]")
](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1616461488l/57501027._SX98_.jpg "The Book of Tea - Kakuzo Okakura [modern library classics](annotated)")
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