Early Daoist Research Articles

DAOIST PRESENTATION AND PERSUASION Wandering among Zhuangzi's Kinds of Language

A concern central to virtually all full-blooded instances of religious ethics is how persuasively to represent a world central to our fulfillment that far exceeds our normal understanding. The treatment of three kinds of language in an early Daoist text, the Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu), contains an especially profound discussion and expression of such persuasive presentations in religious ethics. This study examines it and concludes by viewing Dante's Commedia through the perspectives Zhuangzi's ideas and practices present.

Zhuangzi's notion of transcendental life

In the post-metaphysical climate of the modern Western academy, Chinese thought is often seen as a happy pragmatism free from transcendental pretense. The article shows, on the contrary, that the early Daoist thinker Zhuangzi had not only one but at least two distinct notions of transcendence. The focus is on Zhuangzi's notion of transcendental life, or the life of Heaven as opposed to the life of man. Based on the explication of Zhuangzi's notion of transcendental life, the article provides a new understanding of Zhuangzi's crucial notion of ‘wandering’ (you). Finally it is argued that Zhuangzi's thought does not, as it is often thought, fall into naturalism.

Aspects of Xunzi's Engagement with Early Daoism

Xunzi borrows several significant ideas originating in the Zhuangzi and the ''Neiye'' chapter of the Guanzi, adapting them to solve problems in his own theories of mind and self-cultivation. This reworking occurs in three main areas. First, he uses some of the psycho-physical terminology of the ''Neiye'' but alters its cosmological background and thus its implications for selfcultivation. Second, largely for rhetorical effect he adopts the language of shen and shenming from both texts, but uses them to argue for the potency of the Confucian Way rather than some ineffable cosmic Dao. Third, and most significantly, he takes and transforms the terminology of emptiness, unity, and tranquility, using them in new ways within his own Confucian vision to solve important philosophical problems generated by his own positions.

Early Daoist and Confucian Relations as Seen from the Guodian Chu Slips

Early Daoist and Confucian Relations as Seen from the Guodian Chu Slips

Early Daoist Scriptures. By Stephen R. Bokenkamp, with a contribution by Peter Nickerson. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997. xviii, 502 pp. $50.00 (cloth).

Early Daoist Scriptures. By Stephen R. Bokenkamp, with a contribution by Peter Nickerson. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997. xviii, 502 pp. $50.00 (cloth).

Early Daoist Scriptures

Early Daoist Scriptures

Early Daoist Scriptures (review)

Early Daoist Scriptures (review)

Early Daoist Scriptures. By Stephen Bokenkamp, with a contribution by Peter Nickerson. pp. xvii, 502, glossary. Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1997.

Early Daoist Scriptures. By Stephen Bokenkamp, with a contribution by Peter Nickerson. pp. xvii, 502, glossary. Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1997.

Great Perfection: Religion and Ethnicity in a Chinese Millennial Kingdom (review)

Reviews 161 Terry F. Kleeman. Great Perfection: Religion and Ethnicity in a Chinese Millennial Kingdom. Honolulu: University ofHawai'i Press, 1998. x, 251 pp. Hardcover $48.00, isbn 0-8248-1800-8. In the year 302 ce., sinified members of the Ba E3 ethnic group led by Li Te ^W and his third son Li Xiong $ÍÍÉ founded the state ofPerfection (Cheng fiíc; also known as the state of Great Perfection) in the area around Chengdu (Sichuan). The Lis belonged to a powerful warrior lineage which had dominated eastern Sichuan for decades, and whose members had served the Celestial Master (Tianshi ^TvEiP) Daoist state in Hanzhong at the end ofdie Han dynasty. Li Te and Li Xiong maintained close contact with Daoist recluses such as Long-lived Fan (Fan Changsheng lÈJIiÈ), and some oftheir legal and tax policies appear to have been modeled on those of the Celestial Masters. However, following Li Xiong's death in 334 the Great Perfection kingdom fell into disarray (it was even renamed Han Ü), and was finally crushed by the Eastern Jin in 347. In this thoroughly researched and engagingly written book, Terry Kleeman utilizes scholarship in Chinese, Japanese, and Western languages to trace the ethnic and religious factors behind the rise and fall ofthe state of Great Perfection. Kleeman firmly establishes himself as the expert on early Sichuan cultural history by employing historical and ethnographic studies of the region to reconstruct the early history ofthis region's Daoist movements and their millennial traditions. Central to his study are annotated translations of the two most important sources about the Great Perfection kingdom: Chang Qu ^StTs (ca. 291-ca. 361) Account ofthe Land ofHuayang (Huayangguozhi ^I^S/S), and the "ülegitimate annals" (zaiji lBcgO) preserved in the Book ofJin (Jinshu iHlr). Kleeman's scholarship is superb, and represents the best of the Western sinological tradition. Moreover, the historical record as he reconstructs it is a riveting one, and should prove interesting to both faculty and students. The structure of Grear Perfection is similar to that of Kleeman's first book1 in that the first half (part 1) consists ofintroductory material while the second (part 2) contains an annotated translation. Chapter 1 (pp. 11-60) explores the ethnic history of ancient Sichuan. Kleeman begins with a sensitive treatment of the methodological issues that affect our attempts to understand such history (see pp. 11-16). He then turns to recent archaeological data to describe the ancient Sichuan culture ofSanxingdui HJLtEI, and uses a wide range ofprimary and secondary© 1999 by University sources to reconstruct the histories ofShu W and Ba. Kleeman's account clearly ofHawai'i Pressindicates the importance ofethnicity and religion in Sichuan's ancient history. Specifically, he shows that the Ba were renowned warriors and musicians who worshipped a tiger deityknown as the Lord ofthe Granaries (Linjun JUSi). 162 China Review International: Vol. 6, No. ?, Spring 1999 Moreover, while many Ba later adopted Chinese names and other aspects of Chinese government and culture, religion played an important role in maintaining a sense of Ba identity. Chapter 2 (pp. 61-85) examines the religious history of Sichuan, particularly the Celestial Master state formed at the end of the Han dynasty. While this topic has been fully explored by previous scholars, Kleeman makes a significant new contribution by documenting the role ethnicity played in the region's religious history. For example, he shows that members ofthe Banshun WJÊ and Cong Ü ethnic groups were active members ofthe Celestial Master movement who joined due to a complex combination ofpolitical and religious motives (pp. 74-75)· Kleeman's work thus represents an important addition to that of scholars who have begun to assess the importance of ethnicity in the history oflate imperial and modern Daoism, especially Judith Boltz, Jacques Lemoine, Lowell Skar, and Michel Strickmann. He also surpasses previous scholarship on early Daoism by discussing in detail the decline of the Celestial Master movement following the surrender ofits leader Zhang Lu 'jMM to Cao Cao Wìfi (155-220) in 215. In particular, his analysis ofvoluntary and forced migrations by believers (including the Lis) during the third and fourth centuries provides valuable clues as to how that era's political...

Great Perfection: Religion and Ethnicity in a Chinese Millennial Kingdom

Great Perfection tells the story of the Ba people and of the Li family in particular. Engaging the most recent scholarship in Western, Chinese, and Japanese languages (including archaeological and ethnic publications), the study begins in the mists of prehistory, traces the early history of the Ba, chronicles the rise of the Daoist faith and their role in it, then sets forth in detail a chronicle of the state of Great Perfection. Central to the work is a translation of all surviving historical records concerning the state, which have been conflated here in an attempt to reconstruct the lost Book of the Lis of Sichuan, a contemporary first-hand source by the state's historian. As the first study in any Western language devoted to the Ba or to the Great Perfection kingdom, this volume breaks new ground in Chinese ethnography and history. As the first book-length treatment of a Daoist millennial kingdom, it is a major contribution to the history of early Daoism and a significant addition to scholarship on apocalyptic thought worldwide.

Early Daoist scriptures

For centuries Daoism (Taoism) has played a central role in the development of Chinese thought and civilization, yet to this day only a few of its sacred texts have been translated into English. Now Stephen R. Bokenkamp introduces the reader to ancient scriptures never before published in the West, providing a systematic and easily accessible introduction to early Daoism (c. 2nd-6th C.E.). Representative works from each of the principal Daoist traditions comprise the basic structure of the book, with each chapter accompanied by an introduction that places the material within a historical and cultural context. Included are translations of the earliest Daoist commentary to Laozi's Daode jing (Tao Te Ching); historical documents relating the history of the early Daoist church; a petitioning ritual used to free believers from complaints brought against them by the dead; and, two complete scriptures, one on individual meditation practice and another designed to rescue humanity from the terrors of hell through recitation of its powerful charms. In addition, Bokenkamp elucidates the connections Daoism holds with other schools of thought, particularly Confucianism and Buddhism. This book provides a much-needed introduction to Daoism for students of religion and is a welcome addition for scholars wishing to explore Daoist sacred literature. It serves as an overview to every aspect of early Daoist tradition and all the seminal practices which have helped shape the religion as it exists today.

BOOK REVIEWS

Journal Article BOOK REVIEWS Get access Early Daoist Scriptures. By Stephen R. Bokenkamp. With a contribution by Peter Nickerson. University of California Press, 1997. 502 pages. $50.00. Livia Kohn Livia Kohn Boston University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Volume 66, Issue 3, FALL 1998, Pages 651–654, https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/66.3.651 Published: 01 October 1998