WeRead Powered by ReaderPub
Zen Buddhism, and Its Relation to Art cover

Zen Buddhism, and Its Relation to Art

By Arthur Waley
Open in WeRead

Explore more books like this:

ArtPhilosophy & EthicsReligion/Spirituality

About This Book

This essay outlines the evolution of Buddhism in China and the emergence of Zen as a practice prioritizing direct insight over scripture and ritual. It recounts early teachings that identify an immanent Buddha-nature discoverable through meditation, contrasts conservative, devotional, and meditative schools, and traces how later teachers codified postures and progressive exercises. The author then links Zen principles—immediacy, simplicity, and the negation of conceptual elaboration—to aesthetic tendencies in painting, poetry, calligraphy, garden design, and related arts, explaining how spiritual practice informed forms, techniques, and aesthetic ideals.

About the Author

Waley, Arthur portrait

Arthur Waley

Arthur Waley was a prominent British sinologist and translator, celebrated for his significant contributions to the understanding of Chinese and Japanese literature. His translations, including 'The Nō Plays of Japan' and 'The Poet Li Po, A.D. 701-762', have made classical Asian texts accessible to Western audiences. Waley's work often explored the intersections of culture and art, as seen in his influential book 'Zen Buddhism, and Its Relation to Art'. His scholarship not only illuminated the literary heritage of East Asia but also fostered a greater appreciation for its artistic traditions in the West.

More Books by This Author

2 picks
The Nō Plays of Japan cover The Nō Plays of Japan by Arthur Waley The Poet Li Po, A.D. 701-762 cover The Poet Li Po, A.D. 701-762 by Arthur Waley

You May Also Like

6 picks
The Substance of a Journal During a Residence at the Red River Colony, British North America / and Frequent Excursions Among the North-West American / Indians, In the Years 1820, 1821, 1822, 1823. cover The Substance of a Journal During a Residence at the Red River Colony, British North America / and Frequent Excursions Among the North-West American / Indians, In the Years 1820, 1821, 1822, 1823. by John West When a Man Comes to Himself cover When a Man Comes to Himself by Woodrow Wilson The Art & Practice of Typography / A Manual of American Printing, Including a Brief History up to the Twentieth Century, with Reproductions of the Work of Early Masters of the Craft, and a Practical Discussion and an Extensive Demonstration of the Modern Use of Type-faces and Methods of Arrangement cover The Art & Practice of Typography / A Manual of American Printing, Including a Brief History up to the Twentieth Century, with Reproductions of the Work of Early Masters of the Craft, and a Practical Discussion and an Extensive Demonstration of the Modern Use of Type-faces and Methods of Arrangement by Edmund G. Gress Jenseits von Gut und Böse cover Jenseits von Gut und Böse by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche The Gist of Swedenborg cover The Gist of Swedenborg by Emanuel Swedenborg Raphael / A Collection of Fifteen Pictures and a Portrait of the Painter with Introduction and Interpretation cover Raphael / A Collection of Fifteen Pictures and a Portrait of the Painter with Introduction and Interpretation by Estelle M. Hurll