I read this book because of "Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism: The Space of Thought in East Asia" by Shota Kikuchi, which I have previously introduced on this blog. In that book, this book was introduced as follows

Yoshihiro Murayama's book, "The Idea of China," is one that I recommend to anyone interested in the subject. It is a concise summary of the history of Chinese thought, but it is exciting because it is sometimes quite blunt. For example, the first sentence of the book opens with the following statement.

There are many people who are interested in Chinese classics and thought, but their knowledge is generally inaccurate and sometimes highly erroneous. "There are many people who are interested in Chinese classics and thought, but the knowledge they have is generally inaccurate and sometimes highly erroneous.

It's so painful that it's like you're suddenly slashing at the person in front of you."

In fact, this book was truly a sharp and stimulating read.

Taoism is so deeply rooted in the lives of the Chinese people. And interestingly, it is also mixed with Confucianism and Buddhism and is still believed in today. This is similar to the way Japanese people practice their religion.

Taoism is not easy for Japanese to visualize, but this book is visually friendly with many photos and documents.

I am also pleased that the explanations are designed to be easy to read and understand even for beginners.

I highly recommend this book as an introduction to Taoism.

According to the author, this book is intended as an introductory book, but what is taught in this book is very dense.

It looks at the teachings and characteristics of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism respectively, and how they are intertwined.

The book also tackles the straightforward question, "What is religion in the first place? This is interesting!

Our neighbor, China. What exactly is the religion of that neighbor? Surprisingly, I don't know this. This book was very stimulating and interesting for me, as I have been asking myself such questions for a long time.

This book is an excellent reference and work for the study of Chinese history. The most attractive point is the overwhelming volume of illustrations. Moreover, it is all in color! It is a great book to learn about Chinese history and culture visually. It is like a reference book that I had in junior high school and high school.

This book is filled with amazing photographs. It is guaranteed to take your breath away at the grandeur of China and the sophistication of its civilization.

I was surprised to read this book because I had only had an image of the Sung Dynasty in my mind as the Japan-Song trade of Taira no Kiyomori. Although the Song dynasty is less impressive than the Sui and Tang dynasties, it was during this period that Chinese culture became overwhelmingly sophisticated.
This book provides a detailed look at the cultural aspects of the Sung Dynasty as well as its history. There are plenty of photos so that you can see the magnificent ceramics. I appreciate this because it gives me a visual image.

And what surprised me the most was the revolutionary change brought about by the invention of the art of printing. I was very interested in that moment when the act of "reading a book" was decisively transformed.

Although the Sui and Tang dynasties are well-known in Japanese history, until now I too knew very little about what the political situation was actually like. I had only a vague image of the Sui and Tang dynasties as world empires that boasted enormous power. That is the image of Chinese culture in all its splendor and splendor.

But in this book, we will take a closer look at how these Sui and Tang dynasties were founded and declined. Above all, it was very interesting to see how they tried to carry out the tremendously difficult task of governing the whole of China.

How do you govern a vast country in the absence of modern means of communication? This book will make you think about that again.