China and the Search for Happiness: Recurring Themes in Four Thousand Years of Chinese Cultural History

by Wolfgang Bauer

Traces changing concepts of utopia through four thousand years of Chinese intellectual history, studying recurring themes of the ways in which individuals might discover the ultimate good and achieve happiness

Genres: China

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1976

Reviews

[Brian Griffith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bauer explores mountains and caves traversed by China's real seekers -- who wanted not power, knowledge, or sanctity, but the real goal of life, namely happiness. The survey covers a vast range of strategies -- from love to wine, naturalism, communal living, to sheer escapism. The variety of ways to happiness probably eclipses the creativity of the West's 1960s counterculture. It's a refreshing and challenging meditation on what makes us happy.