2nd Edition
The Religious Traditions of Asia Religion, History, and Culture
This essential student textbook consists of seventeen sections, all written by leading scholars in their different fields. They cover all the religious traditions of Southwest Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Tibet, and East Asia. The major traditions that are described and discussed are (from the Southwest) Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Islam, and (from the East) Taoism, Confucianism and Shinto. In addition, the tradition of Bon in Tibet, the shamanistic religions of Inner Asia, and general Chinese, Korean and Japanese religion are also given full coverage. The emphasis throughout is on clear description and analysis, rather than evaluation. Ten maps are provided to add to the usefulness of this book, which has its origin in the acclaimed Encyclopedia of Religion, edited by Mircea Eliade of the University of Chicago.
Biography
The late Joseph M. Kitagawa was Professor Emeritus of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago, USA.
'a very good overview of the manifold religious traditions that are woven into the social fabric of vast regions of Asia...One of the sure merits of this volume is that, alongside the well-known major religions, it has also given due importance to those somewhat less known religious traditions of Asia, that survive either independently or in a state of fusion with other religious traditions.' - Bibliographia Missionaria
