“Never the ‘Twain Shall Meet”
Disorienting East and West in Teaching and Scholarship
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/bsor.v44i2.26070Keywords:
Orientalism, Buddhist modernism, Unitarianism, socialism, Hirai KinzaAbstract
This article explores the categories of "East" and "West" within teaching and scholarship on Asian religions. After reflection on both the problematic and useful aspects of these terms in classroom pedagogy, I analyze the life and work of Hirai Kinza (1859–1916), a Japanese lay Buddhist who experimented with Unitarianism and socialism in an attempt to bridge "East" and "West" in the context of Japanese modernization.
References
Hirai Kinza. 1892.“So?go? shu?kyo?ron” (On synthetic reli- gion), Dento 35.
———. 1893. “The Real Position of Japan toward Christi- anity.” In The World’s Parliament of Religions, vol. 1, ed- ited by John Henry Barrows, 444–50. Chicago: Parlia- ment Publishing.
———. 1900. “Jinrui shinporon” (On the progress of hu- manity). Rikugo? zasshi 236.
———. 1901. “Kagakuteki oyobi shikateki shakai” (Scien- tific or poetic society). Rikugo? zasshi 245. VOLUME 44, NUMBER 2 / JUNE 2015 BULLETIN FOR THE STUDY OF RELIGION 7
Hirai Kinza. 1892.“So?go? shu?kyo?ron” (On synthetic reli- gion), Dento 35.
———. 1893. “The Real Position of Japan toward Christi- anity.” In The World’s Parliament of Religions, vol. 1, ed- ited by John Henry Barrows, 444–50. Chicago: Parlia- ment Publishing.
———. 1900. “Jinrui shinporon” (On the progress of hu- manity). Rikugo? zasshi 236.
———. 1901. “Kagakuteki oyobi shikateki shakai” (Scien- tific or poetic society). Rikugo? zasshi 245.
Ketelaar, James Edward. 1990. Of Heretics and Martyrs in Meiji Japan: Buddhism and Its Persecution. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Mullins, Mark. 1998. Christianity Made in Japan: A Study of Indigenous Movements. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.
Snodgrass, Judith. 2003. Presenting Japanese Buddhism to the West: Orientalism, Occidentalism, and the Columbian Exposition. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press..
Yoshinaga Shin’ichi. 2007. “Hirai Kinza, sono seikai” (The world of Hirai Kinza). In Hirai Kinza ni okeru Mei- ji bukkyo? no kokusaika ni kan suru: shu?kyo?shi, bunkashi kenkyu? (Hirai Kinza and the globalization of Japa- nese Buddhism of the Meiji period: a cultural and re- ligio-historical study). Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Re- search, Category C, no. 16520060, 7–30.
———. 1893. “The Real Position of Japan toward Christi- anity.” In The World’s Parliament of Religions, vol. 1, ed- ited by John Henry Barrows, 444–50. Chicago: Parlia- ment Publishing.
———. 1900. “Jinrui shinporon” (On the progress of hu- manity). Rikugo? zasshi 236.
———. 1901. “Kagakuteki oyobi shikateki shakai” (Scien- tific or poetic society). Rikugo? zasshi 245. VOLUME 44, NUMBER 2 / JUNE 2015 BULLETIN FOR THE STUDY OF RELIGION 7
Hirai Kinza. 1892.“So?go? shu?kyo?ron” (On synthetic reli- gion), Dento 35.
———. 1893. “The Real Position of Japan toward Christi- anity.” In The World’s Parliament of Religions, vol. 1, ed- ited by John Henry Barrows, 444–50. Chicago: Parlia- ment Publishing.
———. 1900. “Jinrui shinporon” (On the progress of hu- manity). Rikugo? zasshi 236.
———. 1901. “Kagakuteki oyobi shikateki shakai” (Scien- tific or poetic society). Rikugo? zasshi 245.
Ketelaar, James Edward. 1990. Of Heretics and Martyrs in Meiji Japan: Buddhism and Its Persecution. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Mullins, Mark. 1998. Christianity Made in Japan: A Study of Indigenous Movements. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.
Snodgrass, Judith. 2003. Presenting Japanese Buddhism to the West: Orientalism, Occidentalism, and the Columbian Exposition. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press..
Yoshinaga Shin’ichi. 2007. “Hirai Kinza, sono seikai” (The world of Hirai Kinza). In Hirai Kinza ni okeru Mei- ji bukkyo? no kokusaika ni kan suru: shu?kyo?shi, bunkashi kenkyu? (Hirai Kinza and the globalization of Japa- nese Buddhism of the Meiji period: a cultural and re- ligio-historical study). Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Re- search, Category C, no. 16520060, 7–30.
Published
2015-07-14
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Shields, J. (2015). “Never the ‘Twain Shall Meet”: Disorienting East and West in Teaching and Scholarship. Bulletin for the Study of Religion, 44(2), 3-9. https://doi.org/10.1558/bsor.v44i2.26070
