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Total number of titles: 253


Page number: 4
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Gossamer Years: The Diary of a Noblewoman of Heian Japan

Author:
Series:
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Release: Feb 1974
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Reader Rating: 4.0 (6 votes)
ISBN: 0804811237
Summary: If you are new the Heian period, this should not be your first book; The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu and The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon are required reading, along with excepts from the Kokinshu. However, if you're already familiar with the literature and history of the Heian period, and want to know more about the lives of women in this time period, then this diary is an excellent source.
Teachers of Japanese literature might find it useful to pair readings from the idealized novel Tale of Genji with similiar episodes in the real life Gossamer Years -- all too often students are left dazzled by the brilliance of Murasaki's novel and tend to believe it represents an accurate view of court life in the Heian period. Murasaki's novel is high literature and possessed of significant psychological insight and truly deserves its status as a great work of world literature, but it is fiction. The Gossamer Years, written by a real woman about her real life, gives a very different view of how it felt to actually live with a philandering husband and court intrigues, as well as worrying about more ordinary tasks such as sewing and raising a son.
The reader who wants more exciting stories and courtly tales from the Heian period would probably be better entertained by works such as The Changelings (a tale of a brother and sister who swap places in life), The Tale of Ise (poetry and episodes from the life of a gentleman famous as a poet and a lover), and the The Tale of the Heike (the epic tale of the rise and fall of the House of Taira, a sequence of events which formally ended the Heian era and ushered in the rule of the samurai).


 

The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching

Author: Thich Nhat Hanh
Series:
Publisher: Broadway
Release: Jun 1999
Genre: Religion & Spirituality
Reader Rating: 4.5 (54 votes)
ISBN: 0767903692
Summary: What should we think when on the one hand Buddhism tells us that life is suffering and on the other we are told to enjoy life's every moment? Loved around the world for his simple, straightforward explanations of Buddhism, Thich Nhat Hanh has finally turned his hand to the very core of Buddhism and conundrums such as this. In the traditional way, Thich Nhat Hanh takes up the core teachings one by one--the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, the Twelve Links of Interdependent Co-Arising--but his approach is as fresh as a soft breeze through a plum orchard. For illustration, he dips into the vast stores of Buddhist literature right alongside contemporary anecdotes, pointing out subtleties that can get glossed over in other popular introductions. He also includes three short but key sutras, essential source teachings from which all Buddhism flows. Studying the basics of Buddhism under Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh is like learning basketball from Michael Jordan. "--Brian Bruya"


 

Heavenly Warriors: The Evolution of Japan's Military, 500-1300

Author: William Wayne Farris
Series:
Publisher: Harvard University Asia Center
Release: Apr 1996
Genre: History
Reader Rating: 3.5 (5 votes)
ISBN: 067438704X
Summary: "In a government, military matters are the essential thing," said Japan's "Heavenly Warrior," the Emperor Temmu, in 684. "Heavenly Warriors" traces in detail the evolutionary development of weaponry, horsemanship, military organization, and tactics from Japan's early conflicts with Korea up to the full-blown system of the samurai. Enhanced by illustrations and maps, and with a new preface by the author, this book will be indispensable for students of military history and Japanese political history.


 

Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan

Author: Edmond Papinot
Series:
Publisher: Tuttle Pub
Release: Dec 1972
Genre: History
Reader Rating:
ISBN: 0804809968
Summary:


 

A History of Japanese Literature: The First Thousand Years

Author: Shuichi Kato
Series:
Publisher: Kodansha America
Release: Feb 1991
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Reader Rating:
ISBN: 0870114913
Summary:


 

A History of Japanese Mathematics

Author: David E. Smith, Yoshio Mikami
Series:
Publisher: Dover Publications
Release: Apr 2004
Genre: History
Reader Rating: 3.0 (1 votes)
ISBN: 0486434826
Summary: This survey highlights the leading features in the development of the "wasan, "the Japanese system of mathematics. Topics include the use of the abacus; the application of sangi, or counting rods, to algebra; the yenri, or circle principle; the work of Seki Kowa, Ajima Chokuyen and Wada Nei; more. 1914 edition. Includes 74 figures.


 

A History of Japanese Religion

Author: Kazuo Kasahara
Series:
Publisher: Kosei Publishing Company
Release: Feb 2002
Genre: History
Reader Rating: 5.0 (3 votes)
ISBN: 4333019176
Summary: Seventeen distinguished experts on Japanese religion provide a fascinating overview of its history and development. Beginning with the origins of religion in primitive Japanese society, they chart the growth of each of Japan's major religious organizations and doctrinal systems. They follow Buddhism, Shintoism, Christianity, and popular religious belief through major periods of change to show how history and religion affected each-and discuss the interactions between the different religious traditions.


 

In Search of Your Asian Roots : Genealogical Research on Chinese Surnames

Author: Sheau-Yueh J. Chao
Series:
Publisher: Genealogical Publishing Company
Release: Feb 2000
Genre: Reference
Reader Rating: 5.0 (1 votes)
ISBN: 0806349468
Summary: Sheau-yueh J. Chao, a librarian on the staff of the Newman Library of Baruch College, has prepared a groundbreaking treatise on the related topics of Chinese-American genealogy and Chinese onomastics. In fact, her new book is the first basic tool in English that traces the origins of Chinese surnames.
The Chinese possess one of the oldest genealogical traditions in the world, extending back to the Shang Period (1700-1122 B.C.E.). The author honors this tradition and provides context by including a glossary and a chronology of Chinese history to help readers in finding terms and the dates of imperial time periods referred to in the volume. Also included is a Pinyin to Wade-Giles Conversion Table for the benefit of readers who are less familiar with the Wade-Giles system of romanization of Chinese sounds adopted by the Library of Congress and utilized throughout the book.
At the heart of the work are three principal chapters. Chapter 1 describes the history of Chinese surnames, the research on Chinese surnames in literature, and reasons surnames have changed in Chinese history. Chapter 2, by far the largest of the chapters, delivers a genealogical analysis of more than 600 Chinese surnames. Typically each surname sketch depicts the founder or other originating influence upon the name, the various locales associated with the surname, reasons behind alterations in the name, and so on. Chapter 3 consists of an annotated bibliography of Chinese and English language sources on Chinese surnames. The work concludes with separate indexes to family names, authors, titles, and Chinese-character stroke numbers (one mechanism used for grouping Chinese characters).
The preparation of Genealogical Resources on Chinese Surnames was the result of a prodigious effort. Among other things, the author translated and analyzed nearly 200 books in ancient Chinese literature housed at Columbia University's East Asian Library, the Harvard-Yenching Library at Harvard University, and the Library of Congress. Its publication at this time is guaranteed to be a boon to East Asian researchers, librarians, bibliographers, students, and, of course, genealogical researchers working on their Chinese forebears.


 

Introduction to Microelectronic Fabrication

Author: Richard C. Jaeger
Series:
Publisher: Addison-Wesley
Release: Feb 1987
Genre: Professional & Technical
Reader Rating: 4.0 (2 votes)
ISBN: 0201146959
Summary: It is an excellent book for beginners who need a good understanding of the basic unit processes associated with a standard microelectronic foundry. It gives a quick reference to almost everything in modern processing and refers to a variety of textbooks and journals for further information. In summary, this is the book you must have if you are in the semiconductor profession and require a quick but useful reference to almost everything in the business.


 

Japan in the Muromachi Age

Author: John W. Hall
Series:
Publisher: Cornell Univ East Asia Program
Release: Jan 2001
Genre: History
Reader Rating:
ISBN: 1885445091
Summary: "A specialist in European history, wishing to deepen his knowledge of the Japanese background, should not fail to seek out this book, for it is a passport to an initial understanding of an age that is visibly linked to some extent with the modern civilization of Japan." "—English Historical Review"

"It is almost impossible to find ways to praise this work which its producers have not already thought of themselves, and they are telling the truth. . . . The genius of Professor Hall, an overpowering force in the construction of such studies on modern and Tokugawa Japan, is evident once more." "—Pacific Affairs"

The Muromachi age may well emerge in the eyes of historians as one of the most seminal periods in Japanese history. So concluded the participants in the 1973 Conference on Japan. The proceedings, as edited for this volume, reveal this new interpretation of the Muromachi age (1334-1573), which was among the most neglected and misunderstood chapters in Japanese history. Both Western and Japanese scholars looked upon the period chiefly as an interlude between a classical era (the Heian period) and an early modern age (the Tokugawa period), the interim being regarded as a time of social confusion and institutional decay. As they learned more, historians saw the Muromachi age giving rise to new patterns that became important elements in a distinctly Japanese tradition; e.g., the arts of noh drama, suiboku painting, landscape gardening and the tea ceremony were perfected during Muromachi times.

The volume brings together the work of Japanese and American specialists and shows that many features of Edo-period culture were anticipated by Muromachi developments. Although the volume was first published nearly three decades ago, it remains of great interest for anyone wanting to know more about Japan's historical development.


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