Animals and Plants in Chinese Religions and Science
$42.50
- Paperback
214 pages
- Release Date
1 December 2026
Summary
This transdisciplinary study focuses on animals and plants in medieval Chinese religions and science. It examines how medieval religious agents engaged with animals and plants as material culture in the mundane world, and how the spiritual world and natural world mutually enriched each other in the medieval world of China.
In ancient China, the tradition of observing nature is combined with Yin-Yang and the Five-Phase theories, which were later incorporated into the ancient arts of di…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781801362290 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 1801362297 |
| Author: | Huaiyu Chen |
| Publisher: | Anthem Press |
| Imprint: | Anthem Press |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 214 |
| Release Date: | 1 December 2026 |
| Weight: | 454g |
| Dimensions: | 21mm x 153mm x 229mm |
You Can Find This Book In
Critics Review
Journal of Chinese History
“In this book, Huaiyu Chen, a leading pioneer in the study of animals in Chinese history and religion, masterfully explains how medieval Chinese categorized and employed plants and used animal behavior to predict the future. He further indicates that Chinese monks explained the disposition and characteristics of animals through both native, correlative theory and Buddhist ideas” —Professor Keith Knapp, The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, USA.
“This is yet another tour de force by a prolific historian of East Asian Buddhism who, this time, gives us a fascinating study of the visual and textual representations of animals and plants in medieval China. These two natural presences, usually assumed to be at the mercy of human avarice and caprice, under Dr. Chen’s scholarship, are revealed of their long-neglected but significant roles in shaping the religious and scientific life in medieval China” —Professor Jinhua Chen, Department of Asian Studies, The University of British Columbia, Canada.
The chapters are well-researched studies with rich and very reliable annotations […] it is an interesting contribution to an academic field that will develop into various directions —Monumenta Serica: Journal of Oriental Studies
In sum, Chen has gathered together a staggering corpus of animal- and plant-related literature from the disciplines of Sinology, science, environmental history, and beyond. The scope of the book, broad in timeframe, topics, and places, means that its findings can appeal to a range of scholars. —Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies
Huaiyu Chen
Huaiyu Chen is Associate Professor of the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies at Arizona State University and Distinguished Visiting Professor of the Center for the Yellow River Civilization and Sustainable Development of Henan University in Kaifeng.
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