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Work #335 · Late

Zen and Japanese Culture

Daisetsu Teitarō Suzuki
1959 (developed from his 1938 Zen Buddhism and Its Influence on Japanese Culture) · English
Cultural-philosophical study · Japanese Zen Buddhism / cultural studies

Zen and the arts — Suzuki's 1959 sustained study of Zen's influence on Japanese cultural traditions (swordsmanship, tea, haiku, painting)

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Zen and Japanese Culture (Late)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Relational
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Cyclical
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Relational
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Emergent
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Multiple
Observer · Space Instance Multiple
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Immediate
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency None
Observer · Moral Authority Tradition
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Reversible
Information · Ontological Status Emergent
Information · Cosmic Conservation Non-conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Non-conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Zen and Japanese Culture

The cyclical-seasonal time framework of Japanese cultural-aesthetic tradition.

Space

Zen and Japanese Culture

The Japanese cultural-aesthetic space (tea house, garden, calligraphy).

Matter

Zen and Japanese Culture

The embodied practitioner of Japanese arts.

Observer

Zen and Japanese Culture

The practitioner-observer of Japanese cultural traditions.

Energy

Zen and Japanese Culture

The energies of Zen-cultural practice across the arts.

Information

Zen and Japanese Culture

The Japanese cultural tradition preserved through aesthetic practice.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Zen and Japanese Culture

Suzuki's wartime cultural-nationalist framework has been continuously controversial. The relation between his presentation of "Japanese culture" and actual Japanese cultural-historical complexity is contested.