ORIENTAL HUMOUR

[Tokyo 1963], Hokuseido. Mustard cloth, very good, 582p., 35 color & b.w. illustrations, biblioigraphy, index, very crisp copy, dust jacket mylar protector, & original slipcase.RARE! Classic work on Japanese, Chinese & Korean humor from all periods. Covering poetry, ghost stories, Liehtse, proverbs, Taoism, Zen, short stories, Chinese influence on Japan, mod- ern & old Senryu, Yanagidaru &c. Excellent reference source. This fascinating and erudite work includes a vast amount of literary,moral & religious experience enshrined in the three languages. Reginald Horace Blyth is always R A R E ! *** A very well written, readable set of books. The celebrated Zen master D.T. Suzuki described Blyth as "one of the most eminent exponents of Japanese culture." **** ZEN AND HAIKU: Blyth's studies on Haiku, Japanese humor and Zen are "unique contributions towards East-West understanding." Blyth lived & worked in the east 40 years, until his death in 1964. The history of Zen is the history of moments. It cannot be, like the history of ideas, or even the history of the freedom of thought, an account of development, systematization, criticism, modification, replacement and so forth. Zen seems to become deeper sometimes, shallower, broader, narrower sometimes, but there is no progress of the ordinary kind. It is a history only in the sense of being a list of names of great men in the attainment of great and so forth. Zen seems to become deeper sometimes, shallower, broader, narrower sometimes, but there is no progress of the ordinary kind. It is a history only in the sense of being a list of names of great men in the attainment of great Buddha-hood. * BLYTH'S CONTRIBUTION: Blyth lived and worked in the East for forty years, until his death in 1964 at the age of sixty-six. From the time of his internment in Japan during World War II, Blyth wrote assiduously. In the 1950's, his "ZEN IN ENGLISH LITERATURE" and "ORIENTAL CLASSICS" and "HAIKU" reached enthusiastic readers in America and Europe. Aldous Huxley describes Blyth's work as "illuminating." As William J. Higginson writes in his "HAIKU HANDBOOK," thanks to Blyth "a new interest in Japanese Haiku began to grow among poets of the immediate post World War II generation." . Blyth's Contribution to cross-cultural understanding was manifold. In 1945, Blyth assumed a post as professor of English at Tokyo's Gakushuin University, the former Peers' School. For almost twenty years he tutored Crown Prince Akihito, the present Emperor. Blyth played a leading role in Emperor Hirohito's historical declaration of January 1, 1946, that he was a human being rather than a god. Blyth edited numerous writings from English and American literature, making them available to avid Japanese readers. **** BIBLIOGRAPHY: * Zen in English Literature and Oriental Classics, The Hokuseido Press, 1942 Haiku, 1949-1952, in four volumes: Vol.1: Eastern Culture. Vol.2: Spring. Vol.3: Summer-Autumn. Vol.4: Autumn-Winter. The Hokuseido Press . Japanese Satirical Verses, The Hokuseido Press, 1949 Japanese Humour, Japan Travel Bureau, 1957 Japanese Life and Character in Senryu, 1959. Oriental Humor, 1959. . Zen and Zen Classics, in five volumes: Vol.1: General Introduction,from the Upanishads to . Huineng.1960. Vol.2: History of Zen.1964. Vol.3: History of Zen.1970. Vol.4: Mumonkan.1966. Vol.5: Twenty-Five Zen Essays.1962. The Hokuseido Press. [Note: this set's numbering is complicated, see us for complete information on what comprises a full set.] . Edo Satirical Verse Anthologies, 1961. The Hokuseido Press. A History of Haiku in two volumes: Vol.1: From the Beginnings up to Issa. Vol.2: From Issa up to the Present.1963.The Hokuseido Press. Games Zen Masters Play: Writings of R. H. Blyth, 1976. * For more on Blyth see Wikipedia..…