Tao Te Ching is a classic chinese book about the origin of taoist philosophy.

Tao Te Ching is a Chinese classic text. The text's true authorship and date of composition or compilation are still debated. The oldest excavated portion dates back to the late 4th century BC, but modern scholarship dates the bulk of the text as having been written, or at least compiled later than the earliest portions of the Zhuangzi. Tao Te Ching, along with the Zhuangzi, is a fundamental text for both philosophical and religious Taoism, and strongly influenced other schools, such as Legalism, Confucianism, and Chinese Buddhism, which when first introduced into China was largely interpreted through the use of Daoist words and concepts. Many Chinese artists, including poets, painters, calligraphers, and even gardeners, have used the Daodejing as a source of inspiration. Its influence has also spread widely outside East Asia, and it is among the most translated works in world literature. The Wade–Giles romanization "Tao Te Ching" dates back to early English transliterations in the late 19th century; its influence can be seen in words and phrases that have become well established in English. "Daodejing" is the pinyin romanization.

In the past hundred years, haiku has gone far beyond its Japanese origins to become a worldwide phenomenon—with the classic poetic form growing and evolving as it has adapted to the needs of the whole range of languages and cultures that have embraced it. This proliferation of the joy of haiku is cause for celebration—but it can also compel us to go back to the beginning: to look at haiku’s development during the centuries before it was known outside Japan. This in-depth study of haiku history begins with the great early masters of the form—like Basho, Buson, and Issa—and goes all the way to twentieth-century greats, like Santoka. It also focuses on an important aspect of traditional haiku that is less known in the West: haiku art. All the great haiku masters created paintings (called haiga) or calligraphy in connection with their poems, and the words and images were intended to be enjoyed together, enhancing each other, and each adding its own dimension to the reader’s and viewer’s understanding. Here one of the leading haiku scholars of the West takes us on a tour of haiku poetry’s evolution, providing along the way a wealth of examples of the poetry and the art inspired by it.

Musashi, best known for The Book of Five Rings, is the most famous samurai of all time, and this biography critically examines his life and writings, separates fact and fiction, and gives a clear picture of the man behind the myth, as well as puts the historical and philosophical aspects of the text into context and illuminates the etymological nuances of particular Japanese words and phrases.

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Published in conjunction with a touring exhibit of twentieth-century Zen art, an album of eighty color and thirty-five black-and-white reproductions demonstrates the current vitality of Zen spirituality and its expression in paintings, calligraphy, and ceramics. (view table of contents)

Brings together the artistic achievements of Japanese monks, from calligraphic poems to abstract paintings to often humorous portraits of the Zen patriarch, many published for the first time, and explains their foundation in Zen philosophy. Reprint. NYT.

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