Fusang or the Discovery of America by Chinese Buddhist Priests in the Fifth Century (Paperback)

~ (Author) "To retain laws and customs according to the traditionary manner, and to extend these laws and customs to other lands," was the precept of the..." (more)
Key Phrases: Professor Neumann, Old World, North Pacific (more...)

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Product Description

1875. Leland's translation of Professor Neumann's narrative from the Chinese text of the Yearbook and that of Hoei-shin, the Buddhist monk, on the possibility of the Buddhists discovering America. Also included is a letter from Colonel Barclay Kennon, who passed several years in the North Pacific, and is of the opinion that the voyage supposed to have been taken by the Buddhist monks is easily practicable, and might be effected even in an open boat. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Kessinger Publishing (December 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1417919205
• ISBN-13: 978-1417919208
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,471,625 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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3.0 out of 5 stars confused translation of old book with confused commentaries, January 28, 2009

By	Jose Luis de Cossio - See all my reviews

This review is from: FUSANG OR, THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA: By Chinese Buddhist Priests in the Fifth Century (Paperback)

The book has a confused style or the chinese in 500 A.C. wrote that way. Its translators from chinese to german and from german to english did little to clear the confused theme treated in the book. They just translated the confusion into english. I have readed it twice and I am not sure what it says. It seems that the author thought that he had arrived to Mexico because among other things he found aloe vera plants (Fusang) and the distances and beckoning seemed the correct direction. A commentator then seemed to remember Peru as one of the main cultures in America and said it could be Peru. But the final analysis said that it could have been Hawaii or Japan, but not the american continent. I have read other accounts by the french scholar and they seemed ok to me, as Yoritomo Tashi writings. I think that the traslators did little to enlight the reader or perhaps Mr Leland, the english author did all in his hand to preserve the original but failed to enlighten the readers abour the subject or to clear all the confusion caused by the chinese author and the translators to german and english.
In summary, this is my appreciation of the book