The Oeconomy of Human Life: An ‘Ancient Bramin’ In Eighteenth-Century Tibet

Abstract

The Oeconomy of Human Life purports to be an English translation of an ancient Indian text found by a Chinese scholar in Lhasa. Almost certainly written by Robert Dodsley (1704–1764), the book became an eighteenth-century bestseller. This article discusses its place in the varied lineage of western images of Asia, beginning with Alexander the Great's encounter with a group of ‘naked philosophers’ in India. It argues that the key features of the Oeconomy are representative of the Enlightenment period, with at best tenuous links to Tibet, India and China. However, it also belongs to a much broader literary tradition with deep roots and unexpected contemporary resonances.