Benjamin Brose's Books

Xuanzang

China's Legendary Pilgrim and Translator

By: Benjamin Brose

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Xuanzang

China's Legendary Pilgrim and Translator

By: Benjamin Brose

The life and legacy of Xuanzang: a Buddhist seeker, philosopher, and intrepid traveler who became the world's most famous pilgrim. In the fall of 629, Xuanzang (600–662), a twenty-nine-year-old Buddhist monk, left the capital of China to begin an epic pilgrimage across the country, through the deserts of Central Asia, and into India. His goal was to locate and study authentic Buddhist doctrine and practice, then bring the true teachings back to his homeland. Over the course of nearly seventeen years, he walked thousands of miles and visited hundreds of Buddhist monasteries and monuments. He studied with the leading teachers of his day and compiled a written account of his travels that remains a priceless record of premodern Indian history, religion, and culture. When Xuanzang finally returned to China in 645, he brought with him a treasure trove of new texts, relics, and icons. This transmission of Indian Buddhist teachings to China, made possible by Xuanzang’s unparalleled vision and erudition, was a landmark moment in the history of East Asian Buddhism. As with many great pre-modern religious figures, the legends surrounding Xuanzang’s life have taken on lives of their own. His story has been retold, reshaped, and repurposed by generations of monastics and laypeople. In this comprehensive and engaging account, Benjamin Brose charts a course between the earliest, most reliable accounts of Xuanzang’s biography and the fantastic legends that later developed, such as those in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West. Xuanzang remains one of the most consequential monks in the rich history of Buddhism in East Asia. This book is an indispensable introduction to his extraordinary life and enduring legacies.

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Page Count

321

Publisher

Shambhala Publications

Published Date

ISBN 10

1611807220

ISBN 13

9781611807226

Patrons and Patriarchs

Regional Rulers and Chan Monks during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

By: Benjamin Brose

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Patrons and Patriarchs

Regional Rulers and Chan Monks during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

By: Benjamin Brose

Patrons and Patriarchs breaks new ground in the study of clergy-court relations during the tumultuous period that spanned the collapse of the Tang dynasty (618–907) and the consolidation of the Northern Song (960–1127). This era, known as the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, has typically been characterized as a time of debilitating violence and instability, but it also brought increased economic prosperity, regional development, and political autonomy to southern territories. The book describes how the formation of new states in southeastern China elevated local Buddhist traditions and moved Chan (Zen) monks from the margins to the center of Chinese society. Drawing on biographies, inscriptions, private histories, and government records, it argues that the shift in imperial patronage from a diverse array of Buddhist clerics to members of specific Chan lineages was driven by political, social, and geographical reorientations set in motion by the collapse of the Tang dynasty and the consolidation of regional powers during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. As monastic communities representing diverse arrays of thought, practice, and pedagogy allied with rival political factions, the outcome of power struggles determined which clerical networks assumed positions of power and which doctrines were enshrined as orthodoxy. Rather than view the ascent of Chan monks and their traditions as instances of intellectual hegemony, this book focuses on the larger sociopolitical processes that lifted members of Chan lineages onto the imperial stage. Against the historical backdrop of the tenth century, Patrons and Patriarchs explores the nature and function of Chan lineage systems, the relationships between monastic and lay families, and the place of patronage in establishing identity and authority in monastic movements.

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Page Count

265

Publisher

University of Hawaii Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0824857240

ISBN 13

9780824857240

Information in War

Military Innovation, Battle Networks, and the Future of Artificial Intelligence

By: Benjamin M. Jensen,Christopher Whyte,Scott Cuomo

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Information in War

Military Innovation, Battle Networks, and the Future of Artificial Intelligence

By: Benjamin M. Jensen,Christopher Whyte,Scott Cuomo

In the coming decades, artificial intelligence (AI) will revolutionize the way we live and transform how we wage war. The case studies in this work reveal the ways in which AI will change warfare and strategic competition through a deeper understanding of the relationship between information, organizational dynamics, and military power.

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Page Count

268

Publisher

Georgetown University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1647122643

ISBN 13

9781647122645

A Cultural History of Civil Examinations in Late Imperial China

By: Benjamin A. Elman

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A Cultural History of Civil Examinations in Late Imperial China

By: Benjamin A. Elman

A very important study of one of the most important institutions in Chinese history, one without which the China we have today would certainly be a vastly different place."—Peter Bol, author of "This Culture of Ours": Intellectual Transitions in T'ang and Sung China

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Page Count

890

Publisher

Univ of California Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0520215095

ISBN 13

9780520215092

Benjamin Disraeli Letters

1835-1837, Volume II

By: Benjamin Disraeli

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Benjamin Disraeli Letters

1835-1837, Volume II

By: Benjamin Disraeli

The 334 letters in this volume cover the period from Disraeli's establishment in the Tory camp under the patronage of Lord Lyndhurst to his election to parliament in 1837. The most important issue to which they speak is the course of Disraeli's political ambitions. In 1835 the road to parliament was not yet clear, for he continued to be haunted by troubles from his past. He was beset by charges of opportunism in his Taunton campaign of 1835, and the longest letters here are those to Edwards Beadon written in justification of past conduct; Disraeli had still to learn the truth of his later dictum, 'never explain.' Also, debts contracted many years before continued to plague him, as they would in years to come. He was tempted by a variety of money-making schemes and the later correspondence makes clear just how close he came to permanent ruin at the hands of his creditors in the spring of 1837. Had the fate of debtors' prison materialized it is doubtful that he would ever have been eligible, in law or in reputation, for a parliamentary career. Disraeli's eventual election for Maidstone in the summer of 1837 marked the emergence of his formal public role. Because he set out early and was a long time in attaining his goals, one is tempted to laud his patience. But the record here suggests that it was instead a matter of energy and endurance. This volume of the Letters brings Disraeli to the threshold of the Victorian era and the beginning of his career as a politician. In late 1837 he failed in his maiden speech, but all major successes lay ahead.

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629

Publisher

University of Toronto Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1442639547

ISBN 13

9781442639546

The History of the Descendants of John Dwight

Vol. II

By: Benjamin Dwight

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The History of the Descendants of John Dwight

Vol. II

By: Benjamin Dwight

Reprint of the original, first published in 1874.

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Page Count

621

Publisher

BoD – Books on Demand

Published Date

ISBN 10

3368833626

ISBN 13

9783368833626

Book's by Benjamin Brose

Xuanzang

Xuanzang

Patrons and Patriarchs

Patrons and Patriarchs

Information in War

Information in War

A Cultural History of Civil Examinations in Late Imperial China

A Cultural History of Civil Examinations in Late Imperial China

Benjamin Disraeli Letters

Benjamin Disraeli Letters

The History of the Descendants of John Dwight

The History of the Descendants of John Dwight

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