Asian Worldviews Religions, Philosophies, Political Theories

An ambitious comparative introduction to Asian thought, expertly written for undergraduate courses in Asian Studies, Asian philosophy and neighboring disciplines

Recent decades have witnessed a sharp increase of interest in the cultures and regions of South and East Asia, owing in part to the prominent role Asian economies have played in the?era of?globalization. ?Asian Worldviews: Religions, Philosophies, Political Theories? is?a unique, reader-friendly?introduction?to?the intellectual heritage of the?region.?Assuming no previous background in Asian cultural history,?Asian Worldviews?moves beyond chronological and geographic boundaries to?present?an integrated treatment of the beliefs, teachings, and ideologies that have shaped the worldviews of?approximately half of the?global population.?Rein Raud explores?forms of knowledge in?China, India, Tibet, Japan, Korea, and?Southeast?Asia, providing balanced coverage of all historical periods from antiquity to the modern day.

Asian Worldviews embraces the connections rather than the divisions between the religious and philosophical dimensions of South and East Asian thought, and emphasizes a robust engagement with each culture's political, social, and economic contexts. Clear, accessible?chapters discuss?the development of religious, philosophical, and political thought in India, China, and Japan, and provide succinct overviews of the history of ideas in Korea, Tibet, and Southeast Asia. Throughout the book, Raud uses a comparative approach to examine the mutual influence and productive dialogue, past and present, between Asian cultures as well as with the West, and considers the impact of various worldviews on the development of modern Asian societies.

Comprehensive and well-informed by recent developments in the scholarship, Asian Worldviews: Religions, Philosophies, Political Theories? is an unparalleled resource for a broad range of courses in Asian studies, philosophy, religious studies, and global politics, as well as an excellent introduction for non-specialist readers looking for a contextual foothold in the rich cultural and intellectual history of South and East Asia.

Preface vii

Acknowledgements xi

1 India 1

The Brahmanist Worldview 6

Reform Movements: Jains and Buddhism 21

The Development of Hinduism 45

Philosophical Systems 54

Indian Worldviews Under Muslim Rule 66

Modern Indian Thought 73

2 China 89

The Beginnings 94

Classical Chinese Thought: The Hundred Schools 102

From Han to Tang 138

From Song to Qing 164

From the Fall of the Empire to the Present 185

3 Japan 207

Prehistory and the Aristocratic Period 211

The Age of the Warriors: From Kamakura to Edo 225

Japanese Modernity: From Meiji to the Present 241

4 Korea, Tibet, and South East Asia 257

Korea 257

Tibet 268

Indic South East Asia 274

Vietnam 281

Further Reading 287

Glossary of Names and Terms 293

Chronological Table 311

Index 319

REIN RAUD is Professor of Asian and Cultural Studies at Tallinn University, Estonia. He has published widely on Asian philosophy and cultural theory, and is the author of several books including Meaning in Action: Outline of an Integral Theory of Culture, which unites textual and sociological approaches to culture based on examples from around the world.