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(★)(1.´The history of Japanese religions and morals shows... the interaction of various forces which manifested their vitality more in combination than in opposition. A saying ascribed to Prince Shootoku, the founder of Japanese civilization, compares the three religious and moral systems found in Japan to the root, the stem and branches, and the flowers and fruits of a tree. Shinto is the root embedded in the soil of the people´s character and national traditions ; Confucianism is seen in the stem and branches of legal institutions, ethical codes, and educational systems ; Buddhism made the flowers of religious sentiment bloom and gave the fruits of spiritual life.´ These sentences from the introduction to Masaharu Anesaki´s ´History of Japanese Religion´ outline the scheme of the work --an achievement that has long maintained a high reputation among students and scholars. This important and frequently cited book, however, has been out of print for more than three decades and thus increasingly difficult of access. It is therefore a privilege as well as a pleasure to make it available once again in a complete and unabridged reprint of the original. ´The author,´ Mr. Anesaki says,´in no way cherishes the idea of being an apologist or a propagandist, but has ever been eager to be a scientific historian, whose function it is to weigh the balance of data and to obtain truthful insight into the movements of the human soul.´ 2.Masaharu Anesaki [1873-1949] began his long and distinguished career at Tokyo University, graduating in 1896 and proceeding to India and Europe for further studies from 1900 to 1903. Returning to Japan, he was appointed instructor at his alma mater. Meanwhile he had begun to publish the impressive list of works that culminated in 1930 with the appearance of his ´History of Japanese Religion.´ From 1913 to 1915 he occupied the chair of Japanese Literature and Life at Harvard University. In 1919 he lectured at the College de France and in 1921 at the Pacific School of Religion. After the Great Earthquake of 1923 he undertook the tremendous task of restoring Tokyo University Library and, upon his retirement, was named emeritus professor and was invited to become a member of the Imperial Academy. Other well-known works by Anesaki include ´Buddhist Art in Its Relation to Buddhist Ideals [1910]´,´Nichiren, the Buddhist Prophet [1916]´, and ´The Religious and Social Problems of the Orient [1923].´) |
BASE de DATOS, Biblioteca del Centro Cultural de la Embajada de Japon
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