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Philip J. Ivanhoe is Professor in and Chair of the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Georgetown University.
From Tang Buddhism through the Confucianism of the next one
thousand years, in various forms, one idea was central: insights
that can inform a good life come not from learning but from a pure,
'original nature' shared by all people. Distinctive among works on
Chinese thought, Ivanhoe's book identifies not only core teachings
of three famous figures who worked with this idea, but also the
style of the words and personal character traits by which they
conveyed their views to disciples. It is based on high quality
research, with helpful introductory and explanatory comments on the
different works. The prose is crisp and clear. It is also a
pleasure to read because, though Huineng, Lu Xiangshan, and Wang
Yangming lived long ago, this work keeps those sages alive. In it,
the reader feels their interaction not only with their fellow monks
or with fellow neo-Confucians but also with Ivanhoe's audience
today. --Donald J. Munro, University of Michigan
Philip J. Ivanhoe has provided a bravura set of selected
translations that are scholarly and readable from the great Lu-Wang
School of the neo-Confucian philosophical revival of the Song-Ming
dynasties--and as a bonus he has also included a selection from the
Platform Sutra of the Chan (Zen) Buddhist tradition. Ivanhoe makes
lucidly clear the great debt that the Lu-Wang branch of
neo-Confucianism owed to the Chan school. His introductions are
models of concise explanation of why these great Chinese thinkers
are as important today for global philosophy as when they lived and
taught in Tang, Song, and Ming China. There is simply no better
introduction to the Lu-Wang School than this judicious selection of
diverse key philosophical and literary works of Huineng, Lu, and
Wang. --John Berthrong, Boston University
Readings from the Lu-Wang School reflects a deep philosophical
understanding of the two philosophers' views, and a comprehensive
knowledge of the tradition of Chinese philosophy. The translated
text is accompanied by helpful introductions to each philosopher
and detailed scholarly notations. These, along with the elegant
translation and representative selections of the text, make this
book the authoritative edition of the Lu-Wang works in English.
Ivanhoe's selections are more comprehensive than Chan's Source
Book. . . . Chan's selection . . . amounts to scanty paragraphs or
remarks out of context, while Ivanhoe places his selections in
their original context by covering a major part of each piece. . .
. In comparing Ivanhoe's Readings to the original Chinese texts, I
was often struck by the ingenious choice of words that Ivanhoe
makes. . . . He does not rigidly use the same word to translate the
same Chinese character, since he understands that Chinese
characters take on different meanings in different contexts. One of
the best features of this book is the detailed notations, which
sometimes give helpful background for a particular passage,
sometimes cite the literary source of a particular phrase, and
sometimes biographically sketch people referenced in the text. Such
notations are indispensable for readers not thoroughly familiar
with Chinese classics. Ivanhoe's Readings is a highly commendable
translation of Lu Xiangshan's and Wang Yangming's works. It gives
good coverage of their philosophical views and literary styles, and
can be used as a reliable sourcebook for the Lu-Wang School. This
book can be used for any course on Neo-Confucianism. --JeeLoo Liu,
California State University at Fullerton, in Philosophy East & West
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