Did Dogen Go to China?

"Did D=ogen go to China? is a well-written piece of sound scholarship that fills a glaring lacuna in D=ogen studies. Heine builds on his deep expertise of D=ogen's life and work as well as of k=oan literature to tackle central issues in the hagiographical accounts of D=ogen's life. He displays a solid knowledge of all relevant sources and rethinks D=ogen's life in the context of the latest research. This volume constitutes an invaluable contribution to D=ogen scholarship."--Gereon Kopf, author of Beyond Personal Identity: D=ogen, Nishida and a Phenomenology of No-Self "An indispensable vademecum to the work of the Soto Zen master. ...A short review cannot do justice to Heine's intricate argument, which will keep the specialists busy for years to come. Suffice it to say that he brings us face to face with the flesh-and-blood Dogen and his multifarious creative activities, and thus provides an anchorage and a perspective for which puzzled readers of the Shobogenzo will be profoundly grateful."--Monumenta Nipponica "[Heine's] expert analysis is a touchstone of historical and textual research, and required reading for all serious students of Zen."--Religious Studies Review "Because the majority of scholarly publications on Dogen are plagued by ahistorical methodologies, this book is a breath of fresh air. Thoroughly grounded in historical and textual-critical methodologies, Heine provides a comprehensive, detailed analysis of teh diversity of Dogen's writings. ...Heine's book should be read by any scholar seeking a more historically grounded understanding of Japanese Buddhism. ...Highly recommended." --Choice "...a gathering of insights drawn from multiple angles of vision and from opposing perspective."--William Harmless, SJ, Creighton University