East Asian Civilizations: A Dialogue in Five Stages

by Wm. Theodore de Bary

Overview

De Bary constructs a magisterial overview of three thousand years of East Asian civilizations, principally in the form of dialogues among the major systems of thought that have dominated the Asian world’s historical development.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674031036
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	07/01/2009
Series:	The Edwin O. Reischauer Lectures
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	176
File size:	209 KB

About the Author

Wm. Theodore de Bary is John Mitchell Mason Professor of the University, Emeritus and Provost, Emeritus of Columbia University.

Table of Contents

Contents
1 The Classical Legacy
2 The Buddhist Age
3 The Neo-Confucian Stage
4 East Asia's Modern Transformation
5 The Post-Confucian Era
6 East Asia and the West: Catching Up with Each Other
Notes
Works Cited
Index

Editorial Reviews

A short and hugely informative book for the layperson… Like a wise lecturer, de Bary brings the reader along to a fresh and rewarding comparison of Eastern and Western ways of thinking—and what the differences mean to us today… In the process, he has also written a succinct and valuable guide to the culture by which East Asia still lives.

Los Angeles Times Book Review - Frank Gibney

The work is the personal manifesto of a scholar who is master of the broad overview and bold generalization which is the essence of profound erudition, and who knows that a properly chosen detail can highlight a given topic more boldly than a lengthy argument.

Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies - Martina Deuchler

Bears the unmistakable imprint of de Bary’s erudition and bristles with provocative insights and useful comparisons…de Bary has done an excellent job.

Journal of Asian Studies - Richard J. Smith

A short and hugely informative book for the layperson... Like a wise lecturer, de Bary brings the reader along to a fresh and rewarding comparison of Eastern and Western ways of thinking--and what the differences mean to us today... In the process, he has also written a succinct and valuable guide to the culture by which East Asia still lives.--Frank Gibney "Los Angeles Times Book Review"

Bears the unmistakable imprint of de Bary's erudition and bristles with provocative insights and useful comparisons...de Bary has done an excellent job.--Richard J. Smith "Journal of Asian Studies"

The work is the personal manifesto of a scholar who is master of the broad overview and bold generalization which is the essence of profound erudition, and who knows that a properly chosen detail can highlight a given topic more boldly than a lengthy argument.--Martina Deuchler "Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies"

From the Publisher