THE EAST AND THE WEST: A STUDY OF THEIR PSYCHIC AND CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS.

By SidneyLewis Gulick '83. Rutland, Vl.,Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1963. 425 pp.$6.95.

S. L. Gulick's book (edited posthumously by relatives and friends) is more than just another entry in the currently popular field of comparative studies. It is a comment on the times, past and present. The author, a graduate of Dartmouth and the Union Theological Seminary, was born shortly before the outbreak of the American Civil War and died just before the termination of the last global conflict. These two catastrophic events, themselves symptomatic of the changing character of our modern world, bracket the life and efforts of a man whose interest in the East went beyond the accidents of political history. Rather, the Reverend Dr. Gulick who went to China as a missionary, and like so many of his calling, soon emerged a scholar has attempted to provide not just a simple explanation of the peoples of the East but also, as stated in the subtitle, "A Study of Their Psychic and Cultural Characteristics."

The opening chapter discusses the effects of habitat, climate and food-getting on a people's ideas and ideals. Comparisons are made between the major systems and figures of the East and West (Christ, Buddha, etc.) and certain specific concepts (Ultimate Reality, Incarnation, etc.). Specialists may find the all-inclusive scope of this book presumptuous but certainly the catholicity of its approach is a most provocative feature for the general reader. Even the specialist, currently trying to heal the fracture between himself and fellow Orientalists (and the general public as well), must admit that a synthetic study such as this one has a certain value. Trends appear and ideas emerge from behind the pall of exotic dis- similarity, trends and ideas which are obscured in detailed and more exclusive studies.

The author, while being both sympathetic and humane, was yet a most perspicacious observer of the East. Nor did his calling in any way lead him to a parochial point of view. In dealing with Indian erotic art, he notes all of the metaphorical explanations for these extraordinary religious images without for a moment forgetting their probable effect on the laiety. Yet, he is able to say of these works which "pandered to human lust" that they provide "from the stand-point of esthetics . . . many qan exquisite work." Surely, this is a most mature point of view.

There is nothing "dated" about this book except perhaps its strong anthropological orientation. Rather, it seems quite modern and some idea of the author's timeliness is evident when he is compared to those few of his contemporaries who were interested in the East. While Gulick was striving to better understand the peoples and cultures of the Orient, Rudyard Kipling was writing that "East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet." Gulick was hoping to facilitate just such a meeting on the ground of mutual understanding.

Assistant Professor of Art