The light of Asia : a history of western fascination with the East / Christopher Harding.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Harding, Christopher, 1978- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Asia--Influence.

Asia.

Asia--History.

Physical Description:

x, 451 pages : illustrations, color maps on endpapers ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

[London] : Allen Lane, 2024.

Summary:

"From the time of the ancient Greeks onwards the West's relationship with Asia consisted for the most part of outrageous tales of strange beasts and monsters, of silk and spices shipped over vast distances and an uneasy sense of unknowable empires fantastically far away. By the 20th century much of Asia might have come under Western rule after centuries of warfare, but its intellectual, artistic and spiritual influence was fighting back. 'The Light of Asia' is a wonderfully varied and entertaining history of the many ways in which Asia has shaped European and North American culture over centuries of tangled, dynamic encounters, and the central importance of this vexed, often confused relationship. This is a rich, involving story of misunderstandings and sincere connection, of inspiration and falsehood, of geniuses, adventurers and con-men. Christopher Harding's captivating gallery of people and places celebrates Asia's impact on the West in all its variety." -- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Part one outwards: discovering Asia

Barbaroi Agrioi

Into India

Silk, spice, paradise

Esploratori: Polo and Columbus

God's marines

The challenge of China and the promises of Japan

England's legge-stretchers

Part two: downwards:fathoming Asia

In search of souls

China in Europe

Calcutta

Germany's oriental resistance

Intuiting India: from the vile to the vast

The light of Asia

Experiments in truth

Part three inwards:dwellers of the threshold

Two worlds

God? Brahman? Nirvana?

The hills of the cross

The palace of light

Liberation

Gurus

New ages

Onward.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0241434440

9780241434444

OCLC:

1378187742