Bøger af John S. Major

The Huainanzi has in recent years been recognized by scholars as one of the seminal works of Chinese thought at the beginning of the imperial era, a summary of the full flowering of early Taoist philosophy. This book presents a study of three key chapters of the Huainanzi, "The Treatise on the Patterns of Heaven," "The Treatise on Topography," and "The Treatise on the Seasonal Rules," which collectively comprise the most comprehensive extant statement of cosmological thinking in the early Han period.Major presents, for the first time, full English translations of these treatises. He supplements the translations with detailed commentaries that clarify the sometimes arcane language of the text and presents a fascinating picture of the ancient Chinese view of how the world was formed and sustained, and of the role of humans in the cosmos.

Under the Yi dynasty in Korea a remarkable series of astronomical instruments, star-charts and clocks was created. In this volume, four distinguished historians of Asian science demonstrate the context, purpose, nature and specific workings of these early scientific instruments.

This summer the cellist Yo-Yo Ma highlights a year devoted to his Silk Road Project at the spectacular National Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. Through exhibits, concerts, and lectures, the festival celebrates the arts, crafts, and music of the lands along the ancient trade route. Through telling interviews, lavish color photos, maps, and intriguing sidebars, this book captures all the vitality of the project, honoring cultural traditions that flourish along the Silk Road and the ways they are affirmed or altered in America. From the stories of eight artists from Silk Road lands who now live in America, young readers sample recipes with a Persian cook, dodge the moves of a Korean martial artist, and pluck the strings of a Greek oud, the ancestor of the lute and guitar.