| book details |

The Magnitude of Ming: Command, Allotment, and Fate in Chinese Culture

Edited by Christopher Lupke

| enquire |

| book description |

Few ideas in Chinese discourse are as ubiquitous as ming, variously understood as command, allotted lifespan, fate, or life. In the earliest days of Chinese writing, ming was already present, invoked in divinations and etched into ancient bronzes; it has continued to inscribe itself down to the twentieth century in literature and film. This volume assembles twelve essays by some of the most eminent scholars currently working in Chinese studies to produce the first comprehensive study in English of ming's broad web of meanings. The essays span the history of Chinese civilization and represent disciplines as varied as religion, philosophy, anthropology, literary studies, history, and sociology. Cross-cultural comparisons between ancient Chinese views of ming and Western conceptions of moira and fatum are discussed, providing a specific point of departure for contrasting the structure of attitudes between the two civilizations. Ming is central to debates on the legitimacy of rulership and is the crucial variable in Daoist manuals for prolonging one's life. It has preoccupied the philosopher and the poet and weighed on the minds of commoners throughout imperial China. Ming was the subject of the great critic Jin Shengtan's last major literary work and drove the narrative of such classic novels as The Investiture of the Gods and The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Confucius, Mencius, and most other great thinkers of the classical age, as well as those in ages to come, had much to say on the subject. It has only been eschewed in contemporary Chinese philosophy, but even its effacement there has ironically turned it into a sort of absent cause.

| product details |

| other options |

| back |

| your trolley |

To view the items in your trolley please sign in.

| sign in |

| specials |

Free Your Mind: The new world of manipulation and how to resist it

Laura Dodsworth
Paperback / softback
384 pages
was: R 300.95
now: R 270.95
Available from overseas. Dispatched in aprox 4-8 weeks as local supplier is out of stock

The Instant Sunday Times Bestseller Learn how to recognise and resist the daily attempts to control and manipulate your mind.

| more |

| add to trolley |

The Silent Patient: The record-breaking, multimillion copy Sunday Times bestselling thriller and TikTok sensation

Alex Michaelides
Paperback / softback
352 pages
was: R 280.95
now: R 252.95
Available from overseas. Dispatched in aprox 4-8 weeks as local supplier is out of stock

With film rights snapped up by an Oscar winning Hollywood production company, rights sold in a world record 43 territories, and rave blurbs from David Baldacci, Lee Child and A.

| more |

| add to trolley |

The Thing at 52

Mr. Ross Montgomery
Hardback
40 pages
was: R 363.95
now: R 345.95
Usually dispatched in 3 to 4 weeks as supplier is out of stock

The Thing at 52 is aÂ beautiful picture book about friendship, loneliness and learning how to say goodbye.

| more |

| add to trolley |