Tenshin Okakura The Ideals Of The East
“Asia is one,” said Tenshin Okakura, in the beginning of his book ‘The Ideals of the East.’ “The Himalaya Mountains divide two potent civilizations between Chinese civilization based on a cooperative society that followed the teachings of Confucius like a kind of Gemeinschaft in the language of sociology and Indian civilization of individualism by the thought of Veda in order to emphasize the two of them. Although, even the abrupt snow wall can’t block out this extensive love to ultimate and universal for a time. The love must exactly be the ideal that is an inheritance of all the Asian people quite common. Not only that, the love draws the line between the Asian people and those such people in Mediterranean Sea and Baltic Sea who like to be
attentive to a distinctiveness, to desire a means, not a purpose of life.” In the book by Tenshin has three points that were opposing one another. First is that Asia is one unity in the cultural meanings. Second is that the coherent image of the preservation, inheritance and development appears exactly in the cultural history of Japan in the concrete. And third is that the Eastern cultures have possibility, which make it develop as more superior human values with the awakening of itself, though the cultures are seriously endangered by Western one having arms background. In other word, this Pan-Asian principle by Tenshin stands on an aspect of art and culture, not on political and economical, and moreover his spiritualism shared the stance with Gandhi and Tagore that a spiritual energy could change the world inhering in each cultural circle without resort to arms. He proudly said in the book that the feature of Japanese culture appears that it has bred the tradition of other countries more than it own self, nevertheless, when think that ‘The Ideals of the East’ was written by English, published in England, this nationalism also seems to become a declaration of the attitude, which the whole of Asia would take toward the conquest by Europe countries Here is a episode that one day when he was swaggering on a main street in New York with his disciples, in Japanese clothes (kimono), some youth met them, said jokingly, “Which-nese are you, Japanese or Chinese?” then, Tenshin replied in a moment, “Which-kee are you, Yankee, Monkey or Donkey?”
attentive to a distinctiveness, to desire a means, not a purpose of life.” In the book by Tenshin has three points that were opposing one another. First is that Asia is one unity in the cultural meanings. Second is that the coherent image of the preservation, inheritance and development appears exactly in the cultural history of Japan in the concrete. And third is that the Eastern cultures have possibility, which make it develop as more superior human values with the awakening of itself, though the cultures are seriously endangered by Western one having arms background. In other word, this Pan-Asian principle by Tenshin stands on an aspect of art and culture, not on political and economical, and moreover his spiritualism shared the stance with Gandhi and Tagore that a spiritual energy could change the world inhering in each cultural circle without resort to arms. He proudly said in the book that the feature of Japanese culture appears that it has bred the tradition of other countries more than it own self, nevertheless, when think that ‘The Ideals of the East’ was written by English, published in England, this nationalism also seems to become a declaration of the attitude, which the whole of Asia would take toward the conquest by Europe countries Here is a episode that one day when he was swaggering on a main street in New York with his disciples, in Japanese clothes (kimono), some youth met them, said jokingly, “Which-nese are you, Japanese or Chinese?” then, Tenshin replied in a moment, “Which-kee are you, Yankee, Monkey or Donkey?”