Zen and Japanese Culture [Paperback]

Daisetz T. Suzuki (Author)

Book Description

Series: Bollingen Series (General) | Publication Date: November 1, 1970

One of this century's leading works on Zen, this book is a valuable source for those wishing to understand its concepts in the context of Japanese life and art. In simple, often poetic, language, Daisetz Suzuki describes what Zen is, how it evolved, and how its emphasis on primitive simplicity and self-effacement have helped to shape an aesthetics found throughout Japanese culture. He explores the surprising role of Zen in the philosophy of the samurai, and subtly portrays the relationship between Zen and swordsmanship, haiku, tea ceremonies, and the Japanese love of nature. Suzuki's contemplative discussion is enhanced by anecdotes, poetry, and illustrations showing silk screens, calligraphy, and examples of architecture.

Editorial Reviews

Review

As one turns the pages of this delightful book, one seems to catch intimations of how and why certain aspects of the "spirit of Zen' are making themselves felt in America today. . . .
(The New York Times )

About the Author

Daisetz T. Suzuki (1870-1966) was Japan's foremost authority on Zen Buddhism and the author of more than one hundred books on the subject.
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 502 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (November 1, 1970)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691017700
• ISBN-13: 978-0691017709
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #863,675 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece..., November 2, 2003

By 

C. Middleton (Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Zen and Japanese Culture (Paperback)

This enchanting book examines the deep influence of Zen Buddhism on the central aspects of Japanese culture and gracefully illustrates that the two are linked in profound ways. Suzuki has that mysterious ability as a writer to explain extremely abstract notions in elegant though simplistic language. Zen is a difficult subject to demonstrate because, by its very nature, it defies normative modes of rational thought.
Suzuki manages to gently clear our rationally conditioned patterns of thought like a gentle spring rain, and astonishingly we come to discover that Zen is simpler than anything else we've encountered before. One comes away from the reading with a soothing, calm and certain understanding of the nature of Zen. And one is certain that the man behind the words is a master.

He begins the narrative with insightful remarks on Japanese culture, touching on Zen's history and how the military classes, the Samurai, embraced the religion. The discussion moves onto Zen and its relation to Confucianism and the connection with the cultivation of a nationalistic spirit in Japan. The majority of the text is devoted to three central areas: Zen and Swordsmanship, Zen and Haiku, Zen and the Art of Tea, and lastly, the Japanese love of nature and its manifestations through art.

Suzuki's argument is that Zen and its teachings have had such an enormous influence on the Japanese, that the culture as we know it would not exist without it. One needs to truly understand this influence in order to have any comprehension of the culture. He proposes that one does not exist without the other:

"...without a full appreciation of it not a page of the history of Japanese poetry, Japanese arts, and Japanese handicrafts would have been written. Not only the history of the arts, but the history of the Japanese moral and spiritual life would lose its deeper significance, if detached from the Zen way of interpreting life and the world." (P.364)

This is an extraordinary book because it opens the way towards a fundamental understanding of Zen Buddhism and the foundations of Japanese culture, illustrating that the two are inextricably interlinked. The text is also beautifully enhanced with poetry, paintings, calligraphy and examples of architecture. If one is interested in either of these subjects, this book is a masterpiece and an important and enlightening experience.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book of a Lifetime!, August 26, 2000

By 

J. Anderson (Monterey, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Zen and Japanese Culture (Paperback)

A towering book of scholarship from the mind of a Japanese Zen master with an almost mystical mastery of English prose. One neednt be a student of Buddhism or particularly interested in the history of Zen and its historical impact to benefit mightily from this book. It's beautiful literature. The passages (in two generous chapters) on Zen and Swordsmanship boast standing with the best in English literature. Suzuki's perspective is broad and inclusive, if entirely his own, and includes the historic relationship of Zen to nature, art, haiku, and more narrowly to the Japanese Tea Ceremony. He remains more bountiful writer than succint personal teacher. It's a great book that can be read again and again. Suzuki's plane is infinite depth and light; he takes us in, for the book of a lifetime. Unconditional recommendation that amounts to urging you.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended!, November 3, 2004

By 

Stalwart Kreinblaster "SK2008" (Xanadu) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zen and Japanese Culture (Paperback)

I was perhaps, more or less, curious when I picked this book up at a used book store a few years ago. As I read it - this curiosity was very deeply rewarded - and I fell in love with Suzuki's style of writing - and his presentation of Zen - which for me (a westerner) pieced together a rather loose understanding I had at the time and gained something of a background into the great mysteries of Asian (esp. Japanese) culture and ways of life. This book enlightened new ideas of embracing simplicity and poverty - not usually seen in the west (where we long for belongings). Another thing Suzuki stresses is dicipline - something lacking in many western interpretations of Zen.