Daoist Texts Research Articles

Transcending Individual Traditions: Zhang Taiyan’s Interpretation of Zhuangzi’s Notion of Chengxin

This article examines the nuanced interpretations of chengxin 成心 in the Zhuangzi 莊子, a foundational Daoist text, across different philosophical traditions. Historically, Daoist thinkers like Guo Xiang 郭象 and Cheng Xuanying 成玄英, along with Neo-Confucian scholars such as Lü Huiqing 吕惠卿 and Lin Xiyi 林希逸, have provided differing perspectives on the notion of chengxin. They regard it as either a source of subjective bias or an expression of heavenly principle. The core focus of this study is Zhang Taiyan’s 章太炎 innovative interpretation of chengxin as seeds (bijas) within ālaya-vijñāna (storehouse consciousness), integrating Yogācāra Buddhist concepts with traditional Daoist philosophy. The study conducts a textual analysis of Zhang’s Qiwulun Shi 齊物論釋, comparing his interpretation with earlier commentaries on the Zhuangzi. It is argued that Zhang’s approach is profoundly influenced by the Buddhist doctrine of non-duality, which underscores the interconnectedness of all phenomena. While Zhang’s interpretation has faced criticism from contemporaries and later philosophers for misunderstandings of Yogācāra theory and Kantian philosophy, it employs the method of geyi 格義 (matching concepts), not to impose one tradition over another, but to foster a dialogical process where the insights from each tradition mutually inform and transform one another. This article highlights the interpretative openness of the Zhuangzi, which invites diverse interpretations, and demonstrates how Zhang’s approach enriches this tradition by synthesizing various philosophical and religious frameworks. Zhang’s methodology remains relevant, fostering cross-cultural and inclusive philosophical dialog.

Cook Ding meets homo oeconomicus. Contrasting Daoist and economistic imaginaries of work

ABSTRACT In this paper, we attempt to de-naturalize the prevailing economistic imaginary of work that Max Weber and later commentators described as ‘protestant work ethic,’ epitomized in the figure of homo economicus. We do so by contrasting it with the imaginary of skillful work that can be found in vignettes about artisans in the Zhuangzi. We argue that there are interesting contrasts between these views concerning 1) direct goal achievement vs. indirect goal achievement through the cultivation of skills; 2) the hierarchization of mental versus physical dimensions of work; 3) the crafting of non-dominating relationships between the working subject, their object, and their instruments of work, which leads to questions about the sustainability of these relationships; and 4) the relationship between work and well-being, which the Daoist texts conceptualize in a much more holistic, but also more presentist way than Western economic rationality. We conclude by pointing out the relevance of these differences for several contemporary debates about work, by denaturalizing a dominant imaginary of work, by distinguishing different forms of work, by suggesting a different relation between work and nature, and by raising questions about the desirability of the automation of work.

We don’t need no (Confucian) education! A Northern Song Reading of the Liezi

Abstract One of the common traits ancient speculative Daoist texts share is their aversion to a society based on Confucian morals. The Liezi’s anecdote about Huazi has often been cited as prime example for this attitude and its inherent yearning for a return to the Dao. Remarkably, one of the most radical interpretations of this passage was authored by a high-ranking member of the Northern Song imperial court. Combining references to other classics with Buddhist concepts and terminology to expound a mysticism rooted in the Daoist tradition, Fan Zhixu’s 范致虛 (?–1129) commentary is not only a masterpiece of exegetical literature, but also provides valuable insights into the unique intellectual atmosphere at and around Emperor Huizong’s court. This case study serves as introduction to Fan’s forgotten work and simultaneously to a widely neglected set of sources regarding the religio-political developments during Huizong’s controversial reign.

Contempt, Withdrawal and Equanimity in the Zhuangzi

The Zhuangzi, a 4th century BCE Daoist text, is sceptical about the political culture of its time. Those who debated conceptions of a good life were hostile to the views of others. They were intolerant and at times contemptuous of others who did not embody their values. In contrast to such negativity, the Zhuangzi promotes equanimity. The equanimity of the sagely person is grounded in a balance she maintains between engagement and withdrawal. Engaging critically, she problematises the lack of diversity in their options for a good life. By withdrawing, she refuses to be party to the squabbles that perpetuate intolerance. The paper aims to show how equanimity is possible, thereby articulating a new angle on emotions in the Zhuangzi.

Rethinking Daoism as Activism: The Political Wisdom of Daoist Texts as a Response to the Contemporary Environmental Crisis

Rethinking Daoism as Activism: The Political Wisdom of Daoist Texts as a Response to the Contemporary Environmental Crisis

Getting to Know Knowing-as as Knowing

Abstract In ‘Swimming Happily in Chinese Logic’ (2021) I suggested that the root conception of knowing for the ancient Chinese Mohists was knowing-as, a conception that fits well with perspectivism in the Zhuangzi, a key Daoist text. Drawing on Wittgenstein’s discussion of both seeing-as and samples, and developing the analogy between seeing-as and knowing-as, I explore various forms of knowing with particular reference to the Mozi, in attempting to make sense of ancient Chinese epistemology and thereby shed light on the whole phenomenon of knowing.

Is There Such a Thing as Chinese Yoga? Indian Postural Therapies in Mediaeval China

China has an unbroken history of therapeutic stretches, gymnastics, and callisthenic practices—collectively known as daoyin—that date back to the 2nd century BCE. Yet, despite a robust indigenous tradition, an iconic and influential set of eighteen daoyin postures was originally labelled an “Indian massage method” or “Brahmanic callisthenics” when it first surfaced in Daoist texts and medical treatises around the 6th or 7th century. Indeed, those eighteen postures bear a striking resemblance to bodily disciplines associated with traditional physical practices in India. In the first part of the chapter, we examine the earliest Chinese sources of the so-called “Indian massage methods,” namely, the Daoist scripture known as Daolin’s Treatise on Maintaining Life and the physician Sun Simiao’s (d. 682) Essential Emergency Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold [Pieces]. In the second part of the paper, we turn to the question of how these foreign practices were “naturalised” and renegotiated as native therapies. In a third section, we will consider the further peregrinations of “Brahmanic callisthenics” by following their traces in European accounts of Chinese self-cultivation techniques. We will seek to untangle the threads connecting Jesuit accounts and mediaeval Sino-Indian methods. We will also succinctly reflect on the reception of biospiritual disciplines in early-modern Europe and their re-circulation in India.

Genealogy as Meditation and Adaptation with the Han Feizi

Abstract This paper focuses on an early Chinese conception of genealogical argumentation in the late Warring States text Han Feizi and a possible response it has to the problem of genealogical self-defeat as identified by Amia Srinivasan (2015)—i.e., the genealogist cannot seem to support their argument with premises their interlocutor or they themselves can accept, given their own argument. The paper offers a reading of Han Fei’s genealogical method that traces back to the meditative practice of an earlier Daoist text the Zhuangzi and its communicative strategy, providing a conception of genealogy aimed at undoing fixations on political systems in order to bring about a more adaptive state—specifically, genealogy that does not require epistemological commitment to its premises.

The Gongfu Approach to Teaching and Doing Chinese Philosophy across Cultures

This paper introduces a method of doing and teaching East Asian philosophy transculturally. The method underlies a pedagogy that has proven successful with students from diverse international backgrounds studying primarily in English, which suggests its potential for the wider scholarly community. The method centres on the practice, or gongfu, of doing philosophy with classical Chinese texts. The gongfu approach emphasizes the skill of interpreting and analysing texts within the context of the traditional works themselves. We have found that this skills-based approach to analysis bears much philosophical fruit. It does so, moreover, without subordinating the texts, their ideas, and their arguments to other more academically predominant frameworks. Or in more positive terms, it allows and encourages students to critically philosophize with the early Confucian and Daoist texts on their own terms, and to then creatively bring those unique insights and perspectives to bear on contemporary life. This paper first introduces the gongfu approach to doing and teaching Chinese philosophy and its distinctive characteristics. It then contextualizes the value of this method through critically examining the nature of Chinese philosophy and how we can do Chinese philosophy in English. (How Chinese is it, and in what ways?) Throughout I offer short case studies from our program. I conclude by highlighting its promise as a mode (or valuable component) of transcultural philosophizing and briefly reflect on some reservations one might have.

A LIBRARY OF CLOUDS: THE SCRIPTURE OF THE IMMACULATE NUMEN AND THE REWRITING OF DAOIST TEXTS. By J. E. E.Pettit and Chao‐janChang. New Daoist Studies, 2. Honolulu and Hong Kong: University of Hawai‘i Press and Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, 2020. Pp. xx + 355. Hardback, $72.00.

Religious Studies ReviewVolume 48, Issue 1 p. 133-133 Short Reviews of Recent Publications: East Asia A LIBRARY OF CLOUDS: THE SCRIPTURE OF THE IMMACULATE NUMEN AND THE REWRITING OF DAOIST TEXTS. By J. E. E. Pettit and Chao-jan Chang. New Daoist Studies, 2. Honolulu and Hong K ong: University of Hawai‘i Press and Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, 2020. Pp. xx + 355. Hardback, $72.00. First published: 28 April 2022 https://doi.org/10.1111/rsr.15665Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume48, Issue1Georges Bataille and the SacredMarch 2022Pages 133-133 RelatedInformation

Heideggers Ungebrauch

Abstract This essay is concerned with a topic that has been widely discussed in East Asia for decades – the relationship between Martin Heidegger’s thought and Daoism. At the centre of my reflections is a motif that appears in Heidegger’s 1945 “Evening Conversation: In a Prisoner of War Camp in Russia, between a Younger and an Older Man” – a “doing that is a letting” (ein Tun, das ein Lassen ist). Starting from this, I discuss Heidegger’s approach to the Daoist “thinking of the useless” expressed in his Black Notebooks and other texts. In the development of Heidegger’s thought the “turning” (die Kehre) marks an important juncture. I propose speaking of a second or transcultural turning, which begins around 1943. For this transformation in Heidegger’s thought, what has been of outstanding importance is his preoccupation with Daoist texts, and especially his reading of the classical texts Lǎozǐ and Zhuāngzǐ. This is evident in his numerous explicit or implicit references to the Daoist classics. In 1945, in a situation of extraordinary emergency, Heidegger refers to Zhuāngzǐ’s motif of uselessness and the “necessity of the unnecessary”. This can be seen as a personal escape from responsibility, but also, importantly, as a way out of his deep entanglement with National Socialism. Although the way Heidegger proposes is arguably twisted and disturbing, its value lies in its providing a necessary perspective from which to unfold the critical potential of transcultural philosophy.

A Library of Clouds: The Scripture of the Immaculate Numen and the Rewriting of Daoist Texts, By J. E. E. Pettit and Chao-jan Chang

A Library of Clouds: The Scripture of the Immaculate Numen and the Rewriting of Daoist Texts, By J. E. E. Pettit and Chao-jan Chang

Translation as Conversion: Richard Wilhelm’s Bekehrung and the Bekehrter

Translation as Conversion: Richard Wilhelm’s <i>Bekehrung</i> and the <i>Bekehrter</i>

A Library of Clouds: The Scripture of the Immaculate Numen and the Rewriting of Daoist Texts by J. E. E. Pettit and Chao-Jan Chang

A Library of Clouds: The Scripture of the Immaculate Numen and the Rewriting of Daoist Texts by J. E. E. Pettit and Chao-Jan Chang

Pregnancy, Incantations, and Talismans in Early Medieval Japan: Chinese Influences on the Ritual Activities of Court Physicians

Court physicians (ishi or kusushi 医師), officials in the Bureau of Medications, were responsible for the well-being of court aristocracy since the establishment of a centralized state on the Japanese archipelago in the eighth century. Despite an increasing interest in the therapeutic arena of premodern Japan, scholars have tended to emphasize an epistemic divide between physicians and technicians employing other healing modalities, such as Buddhist monks and onmyōji 陰陽師, so that the former would be concerned with the physical body while the latter would not. However, this study focuses on the ritual and hemerological dimensions of the activities of court physicians within the crucial context of pregnancy and childbirth. By the twelfth century, court physicians affixed land-leasing talismans (shakuchimon 借地文) in the birthing room, pacified the birthing bed through incantations, and partook in the adjudication of a pregnancy-related hemerological notion known as hanshi (Ch: fanzhi). These practices appear in Ishinpō 医心方, which is a compendium of Chinese classics on therapeutics, hygiene, divination, and ritual that was compiled by Tanba no Yasuyori and presented to the court in 984. Ishinpō incorporates elements from multiple continental traditions, and some of the ritual practices discussed in this paper have at times been framed as “Daoist”. Since Daoist texts and institutions were never systematically brought or established in Japan, this study will rather stress the necessity of examining how Chinese textual traditions and ritual regimes were transmitted and distributed among institutions and technical groups within the Japanese state, in particular physicians from the Bureau of Medications and onmyōji from the Bureau of Yin and Yang.

An Onto-Hermeneutic Approach to Early Medieval Daoist Philosophy

Abstract This paper addresses the Buddhist terms and concepts in early medieval Daoist texts in the light of hermeneutic and onto-hermeneutic theory with an example from the Benji Jing. It argues that onto-hermeneutic strategies of interpretation allow us to understand Daoist texts with Buddhist terms and concepts as an expression of complex and creative philosophical thoughts without losing track of the essence of Daoism and thus as Daoist philosophy in its own right.

Which Button Do I Push? More Thoughts on Resetting Moral Philosophy in the Western Tradition

This article investigates Michael Slote’s call for rebalancing Western moral philosophy by using Chinese philosophy, especially Confucianism, as a form of moral sentimentalism. I agree with the need for a correction of the over reliance on reason in Western moral philosophy, but I reject the rational/sentimental dichotomy and focus on the importance of the will. I make use of the important contribution made by Daoism and the conduct concept of wu-wei 無為. I explain the use of wu-wei in Daoist texts as a nominative to denote a type of conduct, as a verb in moral imperatives, and as an aspiration for human moral behavior. I consider how appropriating this concept into Western moral thought offers significant solutions to three seemingly intractable problems: weakness of will, universalization of moral duties, and the conception of life as plagued by moral dilemmas. I conclude that wu-wei is not the result of some experience of alternative consciousness. It is an alternative consciousness that is shown in behavior, but not able to be said in language.

The Coronavirus Pandemic: Insights from Daoism and Qigong

The Coronavirus PandemicInsights from Daoism and Qigong Kenneth S. Cohen (bio) The novel coronavirus developed during the last quarter of 2019, the year of the Earth Pig (yihai 己亥). In the Chinese calendar, each year has a heavenly stem (tiangan 天干), which relates to the mind and spirituality and an earthly branch (dizhi 地支), which influences our homes, environment, economy, and physical body. The prediction for the Earth Pig year was a conflict between the phase earth associated with the heavenly stem yi and the phase water associated with the earthly branch hai. Earth absorbs water, which means they are considered mutually destructive or controlling (xiangke 相克) rather than constructive or productive (xiangsheng 相生). In this configuration, the energies of the phase earth are being depleted: water is being absorbed by earth. To put it simply, the very cosmological foundation of the Earth Pig year already suggests a weakening of home, environment, economy, and health. As regards the connection to the internal organs, earth is expressed in the body as the spleen, while water relates to the kidneys. As earth absorbs water, the spleen becomes congested and the body's core reserves stored in the kidneys are depleted. Another way to express this in terms of five phases (wuxing 五行) theory is that a deficiency in one organ causes the qi in its controlling organ to become excessive, that is, rushed or overbearing. Hence, deficient kidney water leads to excess spleen earth. [End Page 229] Moreover, the burden placed on the earth imbalances its successor or child, the phase metal, as metal is mined from the earth. In the body, metal manifests in both the lungs and large intestine. If earth (spleen) is afflicted, it cannot properly feed the lungs, which are its child. And if the lungs are deficient in qi, then their matching yang organ—the large intestine—becomes excessive. These two organs are in a see-saw relationship: when one is up, the other is down. As expected, as the lungs weaken, there are gastrointestinal effects. Thus, the energies of 2019 at the start of the epidemic suggested problems with spleen (earth), possibly causing dampness, the prime internal condition associated with spleen pathology, as well as a depletion of kidney water and imbalances in the lungs and large intestine. Not surprisingly, opinions among both front-line TCM doctors in China as well as clinicians and theoreticians of classical Chinese medicine elsewhere is that COVID-19 falls into two diagnostic categories. First, it is a damp febrile (fever causing) epidemic (shiwen 濕瘟). More specifically, it is a condition of damp toxicity (shidu 濕毒), in which the initial dry cough masks an obstructive accumulation of sticky phlegm in the lungs. As the disease progresses, it moves more deeply into the body as a smoldering heat and stagnation, with increasing depletion of kidney and lung yin and a general weakening effect on the qi. The diagnostic category "toxicity" or "poison" (du 毒) suggests that the invading force or pathogen is especially severe, and when combined with dampness the disease tends to linger and is difficult to remove. It has been described as oil that has seeped into flour. Advice from the Yijing The divination classic Yijing 易經 (Book of Changes) is an extraordinary guide for understanding the seeds of change, avoiding chaos, and navigating dangerous waters if a storm hits. It is perhaps the most relevant Daoist text for these times, whether read for its philosophy or consulted in divination. Let me give you a personal example. At the very beginning of March 2020, when there were only 89 recorded cases of coronavirus in the entire United States, I consulted the Yijing about a two-week teaching trip to Ottawa in eastern Canada that [End Page 230] would begin on March 30. Tickets had already been purchased, but I was feeling uneasy about something. After the appropriate ritual of incense lighting and bowing in reverence, I tossed three coins six times, which yielded Hexagram 39, Jian 蹇, "Adversity" or "Hardship." To interpret the answer, my Yijing masters had taught me to first study the etymology of the name of the chapter, then analyze the meaning of the two major trigrams (gua 卦) representing key images in the hexagram, complete with texts...

구한말 민중사상과 도교이미지, 그리고 도교서 언해*

In the late Joseon Dynasty, ideas in folk religions were closely related to Daoist themes. There were, for instance, folk ideas centered on Prophecies of Jeong Gam (鄭鑑錄 jeonggamrok) that developed into ‘raising island-armies (海島起兵說 hado gibyeongseol),’ the future utopian movement known as the ‘South Joseon Faith (南朝鮮信仰 namjoseon sinang),’ and faith around ‘Maitreya’s Descensionist-Birth (彌勒下生 mireuk hasaeng).’ People aimed to transform their country based on these ideas. Associated folklore tended to come from fengshui (風水) and books on prophecies and divination (圖讖 docham), and both of these drew heavily upon Daoist concepts. On the other hand, Daoist texts began being translated as national projects under King Cheoljong (哲宗), and many more were translated and published later under King Gojong (高宗). The nature of these Daoist texts mostly consisted of either morality books (善書 seonseo) or precious scrolls (寶卷 bogeon). The problem was that these ordinances and the Daoist texts of regents were among the main causes of civil war during the Qing Dynasty. In this regard, the translation of the Daoist texts conducted as a national project provided a theoretical basis for the people wishing to foment civil war or transformation. This raises the question of why King Gojong implemented a Daoist translation project in his nation. In an effort to answer this question, this article summarizes the popular ideas of the late Joseon Dynasty and explains how they were closely related to Daoism. In addition, this article summarizes the facts about how Daoism has emerged from a national crisis but developed a function of protecting the state (鎭護) in Korean history. Further described is the situation under which Daoism was summoned during the Japanese Invasion of Joseon (壬辰倭亂). Analysis is provided to show that King Gojong’s intention was to translate Daoism due to Daoism’s role in protecting the state. In addition, the relationship between current Daoist rites and customs in Korea and King Gojong’s dissemination of Daoist oaths and vouchers is confirmed.

Understanding Conflict in Shakespeare’s Plays and Chinese Daoist Texts

This paper discusses how conflict is dramatized in some of Shakespeare’s plays and is implied in the Chinese Daoist texts. Within the framework of Geert Hofstede’s (2001) five independent dimensions of cultural theory, the paper specifically addresses the teachers of Shakespeare to adopt cross-cultural approaches to Shakespeare. My purpose is that teachers of Shakespeare’s plays might consider adding the introduction of Chinese Daoism into their class and unfold the understanding of conflict as more productive than disruptive. By bringing Shakespeare’s plays into an intercultural dialogue with the Chinese Daoist works, I hope that the study will open up new possibilities of understanding and interpreting conflict in the literary curriculum.