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Asian Classics Book Club Page
To the member of the virtual world who has inadvertently stumbled across this page:
Welcome, gentle browser!
I have constructed this page for a non-virtual Asian Classics Book Club
which is both very small and still very much in its formative stages.
Most of our group's initial readings will center on ancient Japan and China,
but the focus may shift somewhat as our reading eyes rove on.
My e-mail address and my home page
location are linked at the bottom of this page. Please feel free to
e-mail any problems you have accessing the page or links or any
suggestions you have for links or additions to the page.
Initial List of Resources, Readings and Links
Books and Access information
Bookbeast's Bookland links to Amazon.com provided
I'll list initials to indicate who has a copy for resource borrowing as well as
ISBNs and Library of Congress numbers.
The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu
- translated by Arthur Waley (no Amazon link) LC Call No.: PZ3.M9317 Tal5--Modern Library edition 1960: probably out of print and/or replaced by Seidensticker's translation below. But I have a copy for comparative reference when we get to Genji (ef)
- translated by Edward G. Seidensticker
Amazon.com link
ISBN No. 0394735307 LC Call No: PL788.4.G4 E5 1976 (ef) Note:This is the translation JC and I were talking about using.
My edition's printing is from 1993--the ISBN is the same, but some of the particulars differ
from the info on Amazon. I know that JC also has this translation--but we'll need to check
pagination--since this is likely the "biggie" on all our lists. I have a copy of the Waley
translation above too.--ef)
Asian Lit 221: Tale of Genji
A Tale of Genji class home page which includes a very detailed bibliography,
the class schedule, syllabus, auxiliary readings and sites for Japanese and Chinese literary and
cultural resources.
William J. Puette, Tale of Genji: A Reader's Guide
Amazon.com Link. A useful reader's brief companion
to Genji.
Reprint edition is once again available. If the Public Library is more your style, here's the Library of Congress Call No. PL788.4.G4P83 1992 (the earlier edition is 1983.)
The Diary of Lady Murasaki (Penguin Classics) by Murasaki Shikibu [translation by Richard Bowring]
Amazon.com link
ISBN No. 014043576X (ef, jc)
As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams: Recollections of a Woman in Eleventh Century Japan
Amazon.com link ISBN No. 0140442820
Japan: A Short Cultural History by George B. Sansom
Amazon.com link
ISBN No. 0804709548(ef)
[A computer nerd note: An peculiar instance of a Y2K (year 2000) error turned up
when I entered a search for this title on Amazon,
I also turned up a find for an edition with the year 2000
as a publication date, listed as out of print with a catalog number
of 0135095395. Oddly enough, it's the only of the listings to include the
"Sir" in front of the author's
name. Okay, I confess, I am easily amused. (ef)]
LC Call No: DS821 .S3 1978
The Journey to the West:
by Wu, Ch°eng-en, 1500 - 1582 Translated and edited by Anthony C. Yu
first published in 1592, a Chinese top of the pops lit classic:
The Threefold Lotus Sutra Amazon.com link
ISBN No. 4333002087 Another instance of same ISBN as Amazon's listing, slightly different info. Instead of Tuttle, I have Kosei Publishing/Japan as the publisher with revisions Soothill.
First edition 1975, fourteenth printing 1995. (ef)
The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura
Amazon.com link
ISBN No. 0486200701 (ef) Note: This Dover edition is the biggest bargain--Amazon lists it as back-ordered.
It's short--and it's not a translation--so the edition's not a big deal. In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion
that I may have another edition lurking around--hiding somewhere.--ef
Chinese Myths and Fantasies retold by Cyril Birch [Oxford Myths and Legends]
Amazon.com link
ISBN No. 0 19 274152 7 (ef)
From the Sacred Writings Series edited by Jarolslav Pelikan
Volume 4: Confucianism: The Analects translated by Arthur Waley (ef)
Volume 6: Buddhism: The Dhammapada translated by John Ross Carter and Mahinda Palihawadana These were part of a QPBC (Quality Paperback Book Club) edition back in 1992.
The Dhammapada was an Oxford edition translation originally and the Analects from Harper Collins. (ef)
Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting by Yan Xin et al.
Amazon.com link
ISBN No. 0300070136 (ef)
Travelers of a Hundred Ages: the Japanese as Revealed through 1,000 Years of Diaries
by Donald Keene Amazon.com link
ISBN No. 0805016554 (ef, jc)
The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon by Sei Shonagon
[translated and edited by Ivan Morris]
Amazon.com link
ISBN No. 0231073372 I think this is one we can read as sections off and on
without loss of continuity.--ef(ef)
WWW Virtual Library Resources
Reference
Chinese Language Related Information Page
From the scholarly to Comrade Language: The Dating Game -- although as of today's date (April 16, 1998) this site is by no means massive, the selection should get you started whatever path you're interested in.