Reviews for The Magnitude of Ming: Command, Allotment, and Fate in Chinese Culture

The average rating for The Magnitude of Ming: Command, Allotment, and Fate in Chinese Culture based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-12-02 00:00:00 Gregory Gritton This is an enjoyable and enlightening read provided you don't go into it expecting it to be a detailed historical study of Bushido as we would expect to see today. Written at the turn of the century, Inazo Nitobe's book is very much a product of its time and tells the modern reader almost as much about the time in which it was written as it does of feudal Japan. The author writes well but this is more of a misty-eyed, nostalgic pining for 'the good old days' than a scientific analysis. Nitobe illustrates his points with examples from Japanese mythology and epic historical poems which obviously were not meant to be taken literally. It's a bit like somebody trying to prove the existence of the Christian god using only the Bible as evidence; to accept the veracity of the 'evidence' you have to already have accepted the existence of what you're trying to prove. It's a bit self-defeating to anybody looking on from a neutral, unbiased viewpoint. That's not to say this isn't worth reading, though. I enjoyed it a great deal, as romanticised and flawed as it is, more as a historical document than an actual history book. It's difficult not to get swept up by the author's enthusiasm and love of his subject.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-02-03 00:00:00 James Van horne What an interesting little book! As many of my Goodreads friends know, I have a keen interest in Japan, although I've never really read into its' history or the philosophical foundations on which it developed, at least to be what it was prior to significant Western influence. The author makes a great point that now (over 100 years since he wrote this) that Bushido as a way of life passed through generations is long gone, what with Japan as we all see it today being what it is, but the soul of it still thrives in the people and culture. Of course no where near as prominently as it once did, but it is still there. I do not mean in only the martial arts and other cultural activities, but in the fostering and development of Japanese people today. Although, as we are seeing on a global scale, this is lessening as we are all (with some exceptions, but as a general rule) converging towards similarity across the globe. This is evident especially when you compare generations in the Japanese, many of the elderly still have that fire and passion in them, where now the youth are focused on more trivial matters and pursuits with little to no interest in their own nation's heritage. Of course Japan is rich in abundance with many unique festivities and whatnot, but a lot of people do these solely because it's always been done, and even though many have religious connotations, Japan is now one of the least religious nations in the world. Of course Bushido doesn't depend on religion, but the fact it did spawn from it cannot be ignored. I'd still say this book is of value even reading now and a lot of the psyche and practice comparisons throughout the book between the West and Japanese are relevant to this day. There is a significant amount of referencing to scholarly works and philosophical texts, both Eastern and Western throughout the book so readers from Shakespeare to Confucius may be interested in this man's explanations of such an important part of Japan's life.