"Through competent scholarship, insightful interpretation, and masterful understanding of the present dialogue on hermeneutics, it brings Buber's book on Chuang Tzu into sinology and sinology via this book into the understanding and interpretation of Buber. No one else has ever tackled bringing these three fields--Sinology, Buber scholarship, and comparative mysticism--into meaningful interrelation and dialogue."-- Maurice Friedman, author of Martin Buber's Life and Work "The best thing is the depth and breadth of his discussion of hermeneutic issues. Herman is very well read both in theoretical hermeneutics and in sinological literature on the Chuang Tzu, and he has thought carefully through the main methodological issues related to his task. His discussion of the relation between unitive/escapist and 'intraworldly' mysticism in the Chuang Tzu is a great contribution." -- Michael LaFargue, University of Massachusetts, Boston