Did D}}gen Go to China What He Wrote and When He Wrote It [Hardcover]

D?gen (1200-1253), the founder of the S?t? Zen sect in Japan, is especially known for introducing to Japanese Buddhism many of the texts and practices that he discovered in China. Heine reconstructs the context of D?gen's travels to and reflections on China by means of a critical look at traditional sources both by and about D?gen in light of recent Japanese scholarship. While many studies emphasize the unique features of D?gen's Japanese influences, this book calls attention to the way Chinese and Japanese elements were fused in D?gen's religious vision. It reveals many new materials and insights into Dogen's main writings, including the multiple editions of theSh?b?genz?, and how and when this seminal text was created by D?gen and was edited and interpreted by his disciples. This book is the culmination of the author's thirty years of research on D?gen and provides the reader with a comprehensive approach to the master's life works and an understanding of the overall career trajectory of one of the most important figures in the history of Buddhism and Asian religious thought.

Did D?gen go to China?is a well-written piece of sound scholarship that fills a glaring lacuna in D?gen studies. Heine builds on his deep expertise of D?gen's life and work as well as of k?an literature to tackle central issues in the hagiographical accounts of D?gen's life. He displays a solid knowledge of all relevant sources and rethinks D?gen's life in the context of the latest research. This volume constitutes an invaluable contribution to D?gen scholarship. --Gereon Kopf, author ofBeyond Personal Identity: D?gen, Nishida and a Phenomenology of No-Self

An indispensable vademecum to the work of the Soto Zen master. ...A short review cannot do justice to Heine's intricate argument, which will keep the specialists busy for years to come. Suffice it to say that he brings us face to face with the flesh-and-blood Dogen and his multifarious creatil�