Kaibara Ekken was a prominent Japanese Neo-Confucian scholar whose philosophical treatise, The Record of Great Doubts, is one of the central discourses in East Asia on the importance of qi, or the vital force that courses through all life. Available for the first time in English, this book emphasizes the role of the monism of qi in achieving a life of engagement. Ekken believes that moral self-cultivation must take place within the dynamic forces of nature and amid (...) the rigorous demands of society and that the vitalism of qi provides the philosophical grounding for this vibrant interaction. (shrink)

Ce bilan historiographique porte sur la nouvelle conception du sexe qui se dessine au siècle des Lumières et ses liens avec le développement d’un type inédit de rapports entre humains et animaux dans les espaces métropolitains et coloniaux. Depuis une trentaine d’années, l’histoire des émotions et l’histoire des sciences de l’homme ont contribué à éclairer les conditions historiques dans lesquelles s’est constitué le paradigme anthropologique des Lumières. L’article identifie un certain nombre de thématiques – la domestication, l’émergence de l’animal de (...) compagnie, la pratique de l’élevage sélectif – dont l’étude a permis de reconfigurer les approches du genre. En portant une attention nouvelle aux relations entre genre et animalité, ces travaux ont apporté une contribution décisive à la compréhension des débats savants et politiques des Lumières sur les frontières de l’humain et le binôme nature-culture. (shrink)

Le chien, dit-on, est le meilleur ami de l’homme. En est-il de même de la femme? Que fait le chien dans la construction sociale du genre? Le livre d’Aaron Skabelund aborde cette question à travers une étude des rôles joués par le chien symbolique et les chiens réels dans le Japon contemporain depuis l’ère Meiji, notamment dans le contexte impérial. S’il ne traite pas de la question du genre de façon systématique, le problème de l’identité nationale, intimement lié à celui (...) de la masculinité,... (shrink)

Autrefois déconsidéré, le chat a aujourd’hui le statut privilégié d’animal de compagnie, au terme d’un long processus de valorisation amorcé au xviiie siècle. Cet article montre comment le premier livre consacré à cette espèce, Les Chats (1727) de François-Auguste de Paradis de Moncrif, contribua à ce changement. Là où le chat passait pour un sujet féminin et frivole, « l’historiogriffe » en fit un objet d’histoire, combinant deux modèles de masculinité, érudite et galante, dissociés par la Querelle des Anciens et (...) des Modernes. L’érudition lui permit de critiquer la phobie des chats en renvoyant aux mœurs des Orientaux, mais aussi de citer maints amateurs et amatrices de la haute société française. Moncrif réunit ainsi une communauté émotionnelle livresque constituée de félinophiles estimables, hommes et femmes, pour démontrer qu’il est parfaitement juste et raisonnable de chérir un chat. (shrink)

Introduction.--I. The philosophy of pleasure.--II. Precept on popular morals.--III. Miscellaneous sayings.

_Finding Wisdom in East Asian Classics_ is an essential, all-access guide to the core texts of East Asian civilization and culture. Essays address frequently read, foundational texts in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese, as well as early modern fictional classics and nonfiction works of the seventeenth century. Building strong links between these writings and the critical traditions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism, this volume shows the vital role of the classics in the shaping of Asian history and in the development (...) of the humanities at large. Wm. Theodore de Bary focuses on texts that have survived for centuries, if not millennia, through avid questioning and contestation. Recognized as perennial reflections on life and society, these works represent diverse historical periods and cultures and include the _Analects of Confucius_, _Mencius_, _Laozi_, _Xunxi_, the _Lotus Sutra_, Tang poetry, the _Pillow Book_, _The Tale of Genji_, and the writings of Chikamatsu and Kaibara Ekken. Contributors explain the core and most commonly understood aspects of these works and how they operate within their traditions. They trace their reach and reinvention throughout history and their ongoing relevance in modern life. With fresh interpretations of familiar readings, these essays inspire renewed appreciation and examination. In the case of some classics open to multiple interpretations, de Bary chooses two complementary essays from different contributors. Expanding on debates concerning the challenges of teaching classics in the twenty-first century, several pieces speak to the value of Asia in the core curriculum. Indispensable for early scholarship on Asia and the evolution of global civilization, _Finding Wisdom in East Asian Classics_ helps one master the major texts of human thought. (shrink)

Using the terms "cosmology" and "cultivation," the religious nature of Confucianism is explored, beginning with a discussion of the ambiguity surrounding Confucianism and its political uses, which often obscure its religious dimensions. It is also assumed that categories of Western theology such as immanence and transcendence are not adequate to describe Confucianism as religious. In this spirit, it is suggested that beyond political distortions or theoretical interpretations, Confucianism has religious dimensions that need to be explored further. The interaction of the (...) microcosm of the self with the macrocosm of the universe is a central dialectic for establishing inner and outer harmony. Thus, cultivating oneself, responding morally to the social and political order, and resonating with the patterns in nature are at the heart of Confucian religiosity. This is illustrated by two examplars of the Japanese Neo-Confucian tradition: Yamazaki Ansai (1618-1682) and Kaibara Ekken (1630-1714). (shrink)

_The Record of Great Doubts_ emphasizes the role of _qi_ in achieving a life of engagement with other humans, with the larger society, and with nature as a whole. Rather than encourage transcendental escapism or quietism, Ekken articulates a philosophy of material force as a basis of living a life of commitment to the world. In this spirit, moral cultivation is not an isolated or a self-centered preoccupation, but an activity that occurs within the dynamic forces of nature and (...) amid the rigorous demands of society. In this context, a vitalism of _qi_ is an emergent force, not only providing the philosophical grounding for this vibrant interaction but also giving a basis for an investigation of the natural world that plumbs the principle within things. Ekken thus aimed to articulate a creative and dynamic milieu for moral education, political harmony, social coherence, and agricultural sustainability. _The Record of Great Doubts_ embodies Ekken's profound commitment to Confucian ideas and practices as a method for establishing an integrative ethical vision, one he hoped would guide Japan through a new period of peace and stability. A major philosophical treatise in the Japanese Neo-Confucian tradition, _The Record of Great Doubts_ illuminates a crucial chapter in East Asian intellectual history. (shrink)