Religion

Since Hermann Hesse's parents were Christian Missionaries who had worked in India before his birth, he was in touch with the Indian culture and religion since an early age. Throughout his life he reflected on his Christian origins, the gospel of Jesus of Nazareth and its significance. Around 1900, when he was 23 years old, Hesse had developed a vivid interest for St. Francis of Assisi and published a monograph of him in 1904. The two novels Hermann Lauscher and Peter Camenzind also show the influence of the Saint during this period.

Hesse read Indian religious and philosophical texts, such as the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita; he analyzed Brahmanism and the teachings of the Buddha. The wisdom of these teachings and the belief in a divine Self in every single individual, strongly influenced Hesse and are expressed in many of his literary works, such as Demian, Klein und Wagner and especially in Siddhartha.

Around the age of 30, Hesse began an intense study of Chinese teachings, encouraged by his father Johannes, who drew his attention to Laozi. Studies of Chinese literature in all its forms followed: besides Laozi, the conversations of Confucius and the parables of Zhuangzi. Also the ancient oracle book, I Ging and the classical poets, Li Tai Bo and Du Fu, fascinated Hermann Hesse. The influence of Chinese Taoism, the doctrine of the bipolar unity of life as a continuous process of change, are evident in all Hesse’s works. Confucius and his idea of an austere organization of the state and the citizens, became appreciated by Hesse as he got older, and influenced his literary work.

«[…] I attempted to find out and to say what is common to all religious creeds and to all forms of human devotion, above all national differences, and believed and revered by every race and every individual.»
Letter from Hemann Hesse to a Persian reader, 1958.