Chinese Religion

Description

For centuries, westerners have referred to China's numerous traditions of spiritual expression as "religious"--a word born of western thought that cannot completely characterize the passionate writing that fills the pages of this pathbreaking anthology.
The first of its kind in well over thirty years, this text offers the student of Chinese ritual and cosmology the broadest range of primary sources from antiquity to the modern era. Readings are arranged chronologically and cover such concepts as Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and even communism. A large number of the selections concern the role of the female in Chinese religion, and are either by or about women. Through invocations, poetry, drama, philosophical texts, religious treatises, and modern fiction, students hear the voices of numerous Chinese masters expounding on the movements and traditions that inspired them: the mysterious Tao-te ching of Lao Tzu, cloaked in the mists of deepest antiquity; the Analects of stately, reverent Confucius; "Nailing a Stick into Empty Space," from The Recorded Conversations of Ch'an Master I-hsuan, and many others, including the work of Mencius, Pan Chao, Han Shan, Chang Tsai, Wang Yang-ming, Lu Hsun, and Mao Tse-tung. Fully one third of the translations are new, and each reading is preceded by an introduction that explains its importance and salient features. Complete with a helpful chronology of dynasties and list of possible video sources, this remarkable volume collects under one cover the most significant and influential works of China's dynamic spiritual tradition, making a fundamental contribution to courses in Chinese religion, literature, and history.

Table of Contents

I. SHANG (1200-1059 BCE) AND CHOU (1059-249 BCE) DYNASTIES
from The Book of Changes ; from The Book of History Inscriptions from Ritual Bronzes; from The Book of Odes , The Tso Chuan , The Rites of Chou , The Book of Rites , The Analects of Confucius; Mo Tzu; Mencius; Hsun Tzu; The Tao de Ching of Lao Tzu; Chuang Tzu; The Songs of the South
II. HAN (202 BCE-220 CE) AND WEI (220-264 CE) DYNASTIES
from: Wan Fu's Discourses of a Recluse , Pan Chao's Perfected Woman; The Unattainable Goddess
III. SIX DYNASTIES PERIOD (220-589 CE)
The Buddhist Pure Land: Scripture of the Pure Land ; from: The Lotus Sutra ; The Heart Sutra ; The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti ; Meditations on the Body: The Secret Instructions of the Holy Lord on the Scripture of Great Peace ; Alchemical Recipes for Immortality: from The Book of the Master Who Embraces Simplicity
IV. SUI (581-618 CE) AND T' ANG (618-907) DYNASTIES
The Mind-to-Mind Transmission of the Dharma: Selections from the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch ; Nailing a Stick into Empty Space: from the Recording Conversations of Ch' an Master I-hsuan ; Poems of Han Shan; The Writings of Han Hu; The Poetry of Po Chu-yi
V. SUNG (960-1279) AND YUAN (1279-1369) DYNASTIES
The Great Ultimate of Chou Tun-yi; The Writings of Chang Tsai, Chu Hsi; Ch' en Ch' un's Learning of the Way; "Master Ch' ung-yang's Fifteen Precepts for Establishing the Teaching"; from Seven Taoist Masters ; from Chang Boils the Sea
VI. MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)
The Writings of Wang Yang-ming; Poetry of the Spirit; from Monkey: Folk Novel of China
VII. CH'ING DYNASTY (1644-1911)
Tales of the Supernatural; Confession of a Ghost; The Story of the Stone
VIII. MODERN ERA (1911-)
Lu Xun's Critique of Tradition; Chang T' ien-i's "The Bulwark"; from the writings of Mao-Tse Tung; on the Cult of Mao; The Revival of the Spiritual Tradition: The God of Theater; from Ling Chung, "The Fall of Moon Lady"; from Master Sheng-yen's Faith in Mind ; Buddhism Comes to America: from The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac
Notes/Chronology of Dynasties/Additional Sources/Video Sources/Bibliography/Glossary