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(Chinese) Philosophy on the Internet
One benefit of the Internet is the way it allows the scattered enthusiasts of various less popular activities to share their expertise. Relatively few people in the West know anything much about the rich, varied and immensely long tradition of Chinese philosophy. In the normal course of events, Chinese philosophy buffs in Britain have little chance of bumping into fellow afficinados. On the Internet however, all you have to do is establish a Web page devoted to your subject, set up some links with the more popular philosophy pages and then sit back while other devotees from Tokyo to Tucsin to Tyneside stumble across your creation. The sheer isolation of Chinese philosophy specialists may explain the very large number of Web sites devoted to the subject, as well as the extraordinary care which has been taken over them. For those (like me) who can’t tell one end of an analect from the other, this part of the Internet offers an opportunity to pick up some knowledge with minimum effort and maximum pleasure.
The Chinese Philosophy Page
http://www.monash.edu.au/cc/staff/sas/sab/WWW/index.html
Run by Steven Brown of Monash University. A mine of information about the various schools of thought in Chinese philosophy. This extremely comprehensive page includes links to electronic versions of many of the classic texts, which you can download in either Chinese or English. These include works by Confucius (the Analects), Mencius and Daoist works such as the Tao De Jing. The page starts off with a quote from Confucius:
The Master said, “Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perseverance and application? Is it not delightful to have friends coming from distant quarters?”
Su Tzu’s Chinese Philosophy Page
http://mars.superlink.net/fsu/index.html
A very attractive page with lots of pictures. More links to classic Chinese texts and photos of calligraphy from the Tao De Jing.
B. Usami’s Home Page
http://soshi.shinshu-u.ac.jp/home.html
A Chinese philosophy page from the Usami Laboratory at Shinshu University in Japan. I recommend the Picture Story Show from the Philosophy of Zhuangzi. There are two stories on offer, each with a series of images leading you through a philosophical fable.
International Research Institute for Zen Buddhism
http://www.iijnet.or.jp/iriz/irizhtml/irizhome.htm
Based in Kyoto, Japan. No roundup of Chinese philosophy would be complete without a mention of one of the Buddhist pages on the net, Buddhism having profoundly influenced Chinese thought over such a long period. This page Buddhises with the best of them. Looks good, too. Here’s the logo from their introductory page:
Finally, for people who prefer mailing lists to Web pages: Chinese philosophy list. Subscribe by sending the message “sub chinese-philosophy (your email address)” to listserv@think.net
Daoism list. Send message “subscribe taoism-studies-l (your email address)” to majordomo@coombs.anu.edu.au.
r.lewis@kcl.ac.uk
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