Zen and Japanese Culture

by Daisetz T. Suzuki, Richard M. Jaffe (Introduction)

Overview

Zen and Japanese Culture is a classic that has influenced generations of readers and played a major role in shaping conceptions of Zen’s influence on Japanese traditional arts. In simple and poetic language, Daisetz Suzuki describes Zen and its historical evolution. He connects Zen to the philosophy of the samurai, and subtly portrays the relationship between Zen and swordsmanship, haiku, tea ceremonies, and the Japanese love of nature. Suzuki uses anecdotes, poetry, and illustrations of silk screens, calligraphy, and architecture. The book features an introduction by Richard Jaffe that acquaints readers with Suzuki’s life and career and analyzes the book’s reception in light of contemporary criticism, especially by scholars of Japanese Buddhism. Zen and Japanese Culture is a valuable source for those wishing to understand Zen in the context of Japanese life and art, and remains one of the leading works on the subject.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691184500
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	02/12/2019
Series:	Princeton Classics , #333
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	608
Sales rank:	826,443
File size:	109 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Daisetz T. Suzuki (1870–1966) was Japan’s foremost authority on Zen Buddhism and the author of more than one hundred books on the subject. Richard M. Jaffe is associate professor of religious studies at Duke University.

Table of Contents

Preface

List of Plates

Chronology

I What Is Zen?

II General Remarks on Japanese Art Culture

III Zen and the Study of Confucianism

IV Zen and the Samurai

V Zen and Swordsmanship I

VI Zen and Swordsmanship II

VII Zen and Haiku

VIII Zen and the Art of Tea I

IX Zen and the Art of Tea II

X Rikyu and Other Teamen

XI Love of Nature

Appendices

I Two Mondo from the "Hekigan-shu"

II The Vimalakirti Sutra

III "Yama-uba," a No Play

IV The Swordsman and the Cat

V Chuang-tzu

Bibliography

Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"As one turns the pages of this delightful book, one seems to catch intimations of how and why certain aspects of the 'spirit of Zen' are making themselves felt in America today."
—New York Times

"[In] Dr. Suzuki’s beautiful book . . . the cults of tea, sword, archery, garden, painting, handwriting are shown as separate petals of that precious efflorescence which, in spite of history, madness and the disturbed surface of the tangible world, are celebrated today, inside and outside of many golden pavilions."
—The Nation

"This is one of those books you read to the last page without ever finishing; you keep going back for more—and finding it. . . . Zen and Japanese Culture covers familiar territory in unfamiliar ways."
—Japan Times

Editorial Reviews

"Praise for Princeton's previous editions: As one turns the pages of this delightful book, one seems to catch intimations of how and why certain aspects of the "spirit of Zen" are making themselves felt in America today."

The New York Times

"As one turns the pages of this delightful book, one seems to catch intimations of how and why certain aspects of the "spirit of Zen" are making themselves felt in America today."

The New York Times

"Praise for Princeton's previous editions: [In] Dr. Suzuki's beautiful book, . . . the cults of tea, sword, archery, garden, painting, handwriting are shown as separate petals of that precious efflorescence which, in spite of history, madness and the disturbed surface of the tangible world, are celebrated today, inside and outside of many golden pavilions."—-Lincoln Kirstein, The Nation

From the Publisher