Beating Devils and Burning Their Books considers several topics germane
to today's social and intellectual climate. Is religio-cultural conflict
innate in religious belief? Is "difference" necessarily an antecedent of
conflict? And on a purely expository level, how have governments,
intellectuals, and religious devotees represented Asia or the West, and
how did they distort those images in order to present diminutive
representations of "the Other"? Following works such as Edward Said's
Orientalism and John Dower's War Without Mercy, this important volume
seeks to continue needed dialogue regarding how China, Japan, and the
West have historically viewed and represented each other. A marvelous
collection of insightful analysis on topics ranging from the Chinese
picturesque in 19th-century Britain, to the twisted spirituality of Brad
Warner'sHardcore Zen, to the representation of missionaries in China as
baby-eaters and beasts, Beating Devils and Burning their Books
illustrates the tendency to exaggerate radical difference--both positive
and negative--that is part of the complex interaction that makes up
cultural exchange.