Wang Chongyang (1113–1170) et la fondation du Quanzhen: ascètes taoïstes et alchimie intérieure by Pierre Marsone (review)

Abstract

Book Reviews 123 feasibility of such establishment, this is an issue that deserves a more expanded treatment: there could be compelling reasons why the current government cannot contemplate the establishment of any religion. It is hard to see the state establishing popular religions and Confucianism, with their emphasis on ancestor worship, let alone Christianity with its strong stance on birth control and abortion, because its policy on population control clashes with the fundamental tenets of these traditions. Perhaps future governments may change their views on the matter as population is ageing, but for the moment this appears unlikely. A review of these debates would be welcome. Undergraduates in the fields of comparative politics and contemporary history will nevertheless gain from reading this study because it describes well the policies of secularization and their aftermath. Students in the sociology of religion may find that the discussion of religious life in Russia and China itself is a bit too sketchy and they may be looking for more. However, I would recommend this book in a comparative politics or contemporary history undergraduate class, because it stands out as rigorous in its research design while remaining accessible. ANDRÉ LALIBERTÉ, University of Ottawa Wang Chongyang (1113–1170) et la fondation du Quanzhen: ascètes taoïstes et alchimie intérieure PIERRE MARSONE. Mémoires de l’Institut des Hautes Études Chinoises, vol. XL. Paris: Institut des Hautes Études Chinoises (Collège de France), 2010. 465 pages. ISBN 978-2-85757-069-4. €30.00 paper. Pierre Marsone’s (École Pratique des Hautes Études) new monograph on early Quanzhen 全 真 (Complete Perfection) Daoism is a welcome contribution to the field of Daoist Studies and the academic study of Chinese religion. Wang Chongyang (1113–1170) et la fondation du Quanzhen is a revised doctoral thesis undertaken in the Section des Sciences Religieuses of the École Pratique des Hautes Études under the direction of Kristofer Schipper. The book provides an excellent and highly informative account of the life of Wang Zhe 王 嚞 (Chongyang 重陽 [Redoubled Yang]; 1113–1170), the movement’s founder, and of the formative moments of the Quanzhen religious community, namely, during the Song 宋-Jin 金 period. Marsone gives particular attention to the life of the so-called Seven Perfected (qizhen 124 Journal of Chinese Religions 七真), Wang’s seven senior Shandong disciples, and to the defining characteristics of the early Quanzhen community. As such this study draws inspiration from, and in certain senses is modeled on, Hachiya Kunio’s 蜂 屋邦 夫 works (see pp. 19, 115). 1 It is especially noteworthy that Marsone has written his study in French (in contrast to other French scholars now writing primarily in English), as it is the first comprehensive “non-English” Western European language academic study of Quanzhen, and it will be particularly helpful for a French audience. Although the work neglects important and relevant secondary scholarship on Quanzhen,2 it nonetheless masterfully covers early Quanzhen Daoism, primarily by relying on primary Quanzhen source materials and secondary scholarship in Japanese and Chinese. The book consists of an introduction, four primary chapters in two parts of two chapters each, conclusion, appendices, bibliography, and index. The first part, on Quanzhen history and hagiography, includes two chapters. The first chapter (pp. 19–113) examines the life, legend, and legacy of Wang Chongyang. Marsone discusses biographical and hagiographical sources related to Wang, the biographical contours of Wang’s life, the eventual veneration and divinization of Wang, and writings associated with Wang. The second chapter (pp. 115–94) focuses on Wang’s seven principal Shandong disciples and the formation of Quanzhen as a religious movement. Here Marsone includes separate sections on Ma Danyang 馬丹陽 (1123– 1184), Tan Changzhen 譚長真 (1123–1185), Liu Changsheng 劉長生 (1147–1203), Qiu Changchun 丘長春 (1148–1227), Wang Yuyang 王玉陽 (1142–1217), Hao Guangning 郝廣 寧(1140–1213), and Sun Buer 孫不二 (1119–1183). The second part, on the doctrines of Quanzhen, also consists of two chapters. Chapter 3 (pp. 197–285) focuses on preaching, religious life, and lineage. Here Marsone includes information on key Quanzhen themes, renunciation and Quanzhen religious life, the theology of Wang Chongyang, characteristics of Quanzhen as a religious movement and its associated lineage, as well as key Quanzhen teachings in their historical context. Chapter 4 (pp. 287–368) examines...