“China and India have the richest and most influential spiritual and philosophical traditions in Asia and have been in contact with each other for two millennia. Yet, comparative studies of these two civilizations and their relationship with each other have been few. The fine chapters in this volume bridge this gap by exploring the similarities and dissimilarities between the two traditions in the areas of metaphysics, ethics, medicine, spirituality, language, and culture. Ithamar Theodor and Zhihua Yao are to be commended for providing us with such an insightful and multidimensional understanding of the complex spiritual traditions of these two enormously influential cultures.”
Keith Knapp, The Citadel
“This is a thoughtful and bold collection of chapters that seeks genuinely to engage across Indian and Chinese traditions on a wide variety of issues. It represents the emerging field of comparativist study of Indian and Chinese materials that will surely be a significant area of twenty-first century global philosophy. This book offers a scholarly yet accessible presentation of illuminating comparisons between Indian and Chinese sources.”
Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad, Lancaster University
The present geopolitical rise of India and China evokes much interest in the comparative study of these two ancient Asian cultures. There are various studies comparing Western and Indian philosophies and religions, and there are similar works comparing Chinese and Western philosophy and religion. However, so far there is no systemic comparative study of Chinese and Indian philosophies and religions. Brahman and Dao: Comparative Studies of Indian and Chinese Philosophy and Religion is a pioneering volume in that it highlights possible bridges between these two great cultures and complex systems of thought, with seventeen chapters on various Indo-Chinese comparative topics.
The book focuses on four themes: metaphysics and soteriology; ethics; body, health, and spirituality; and language and culture.
Contributors
Friederike Assandri, Joshua Capitanio, Tim Connolly, Nicholas F. Gier, Yong Huang, Gad C. Isay,
Ram Nath Jha, Sophia Katz, Livia Kohn, Bill M. Mak, Alexus McLeod, Carl Olson, Ithamar Theodor,
John M. Thompson, Guang Xing, Zhihua Yao, Wei Zhang
ITHAMAR THEODOR is a lecturer at the University of Haifa and adjunct assistant professor at the
Chinese University of Hong Kong.
ZHIHUA YAO is associate professor of philosophy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.