Eastern Canons - Companions to Asian Studies by Wm Theodore de Bary & Irene Bloom Paperback

About the Book

The essays gathered here, in addition to those by editors Wm. Theodore de Bary and Irene Bloom, 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. 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'ang Poetry, the Tale of Genji, and the poet Basho.

Book Synopsis

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

Review Quotes

A work of great worth. . . . de Bary and Bloom present an eloquent and compelling argument for the inclusion of the Asian classics in any construction of a general curriculum for the American student by showing that in terms of content and canon, process and method, Asian classics can and should make crucial contributions.

About the Author

Wm. Theodore de Bary (1919-2017) was John Mitchell Mason Professor Emeritus and provost emeritus of Columbia University. His many books include Waiting for the Dawn, Message of the Mind, and Learning for One's Self, as well as Sources of Japanese Tradition and Sources of Korean Tradition, all published by Columbia University Press.

Irene Bloom (1939-2010) was Wm. Theodore and Fanny de Bary and Class of 1941 Associate Professor of Asian Humanities at Columbia University and Anne Whitney Olin Professor Emerita in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures at Barnard College. She edited and translated Knowledge Painfully Acquired: The K'un-chih chi of Lo Ch'in-shun and coedited, with Joshua A. Fogel, Meeting of Minds: Intellectual and Religious Interaction in East Asian Traditions of Thought.