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Title Strange tales of an Oriental idol : an anthology of early European portrayals of the Buddha / edited by Donald S. Lopez Jr.

Publication Info. Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, [2016]
©2016

Item Status

Description 1 online resource (xi, 259 pages).
Physical Medium polychrome
Description text file
Series Buddhism and modernity
Buddhism and modernity.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents From 200 to 1500 -- From 1501 to 1600 -- From 1601 to 1700 -- From 1701 to 1800 -- From 1801 to 1844.
Summary We tend to think that the Buddha has always been seen as the compassionate sage admired around the world today, but until the nineteenth century, Europeans often regarded him as a nefarious figure, an idol worshipped by the pagans of the Orient. Donald S. Lopez Jr. offers here a rich sourcebook of European fantasies about the Buddha drawn from the works of dozens of authors over fifteen hundred years, including Clement of Alexandria, Marco Polo, St. Francis Xavier, Voltaire, and Sir William Jones. Featuring writings by soldiers, adventurers, merchants, missionaries, theologians, and colonial officers, this volume contains a wide range of portraits of the Buddha. The descriptions are rarely flattering, as all manner of reports some accurate, some inaccurate, and some garbled came to circulate among European savants and eccentrics, many of whom were famous in their day but are long forgotten in ours. Taken together, these accounts present a fascinating picture, not only of the Buddha as he was understood and misunderstood for centuries, but also of his portrayers.
Local Note eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America
Subject Gautama Buddha -- Christian interpretations.
Gautama Buddha.
Gautama Buddha -- Early works to 1800.
Chronological Term Early works to 1800
Subject Gautama Buddha -- Cult -- Europe -- History.
Cults.
Europe.
Buddhism -- Study and teaching -- Europe -- History.
Buddhism -- Study and teaching.
History.
RELIGION -- Comparative Religion.
Christian interpretations of Gautama Buddha.
Genre/Form Electronic books.
Early works.
History.
Added Author Lopez, Donald S., Jr., 1952- editor.
Other Form: Print version: Strange tales of an Oriental idol. Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, [2016] 9780226493183 (DLC) 2016000231 (OCoLC)934938876
ISBN 9780226391069 (electronic book)
022639106X (electronic book)
9780226493183 (cloth ; alkaline paper)
0226493180 (cloth ; alkaline paper)
9780226391236 (paperback ; alkaline paper)
022639123X (paperback ; alkaline paper)