Religious Daoism Research Articles

The negative words and religious turn of Laozi’s Dao theory

Besides concepts such as ‘being’ (有 [you]) and ‘non-being’ (无 [wu]), nature and the One to reveal the relationship between Dao and the phenomenal world from a positive perspective, Laozi used negative words, forming a speech system comprising ‘opposite words’ (反言 [fanyan]), ‘forcible words’ (强言 [qiangyan]) and ‘non-words’ (不言 [buyan]). Opposite words contradict common sense to indicate that Dao should be understood in an intuitive way. Forcible words, by analogy with natural experience, describe the perceptive factors upon seeing Dao, trying to restore the corresponding experience. Non-words declare the contradiction that Dao cannot be expressed by language and urge a leap beyond reason and speculation to encounter Dao. Early religious Daoist scholars understood the spiritual realm identified with Dao advocated by Laozi and combined the experience of seeing Dao with the belief in immortality (神仙 [shenxian]) and the alchemical arts (方术 [fangshu]) to enable the religious interpretation of Laozi’s Dao theory, thus constructing the theoretical correlation between the basic principles of religious Daoism and Laozi’s thought.Contribution: This article analyses Laozi’s negative words on Dao and the relationship thereof with the experience of seeing Dao, which is based on the interaction between an individual and Dao. Finally, it illustrates that the early Daoist classics studying Laozi understood the spiritual realm of Dao as underlined by negative words and combined the belief in immortality and the alchemical arts to transform Laozi’s thoughts to reveal the religious philosophy in Laozi’s Dao theory.

Reflecting on the Distinction between Philosophical Daoism and Religious Daoism Based on the Transmission and Transformation of the Concept of “Philosophy”

The distinction between philosophical Daoism and religious Daoism is widely influential yet highly controversial. The current popular empirical methods often overlook the vicissitude of the concepts underlying the reception history of this distinction. Therefore, this article adopts the method of intellectual history, based on the transmission and transformation of the concept of philosophy, to examine the rationales of the establishment and reception of this Daoist distinction. Here, we present that, though the Confucian tradition of ranking Daoist figures provided soil for this Daoist distinction, the establishment of the dichotomy with terminological awareness should be attributed to the cooperation between Victorian Protestant intellectuals and their late Qing Confucian collaborators. The concept of philosophy that pursues eternal wisdom and truth and traces the origin of all things has played an essential role in the establishment of this distinction. The thought of Laozi and Zhuangzi was valued and preferred in mainland China because of its deemed congruence with this Western concept of philosophy, while other more religious branches of Daoism were belittled. However, the philosophies of anti-metaphysics engender a new paradigm of thinking. On the one hand, under the influence of logical positivism and its successors, natural science has become an excellent model for other studies. In light of empirical methods, the distinction between philosophical Daoism and religious Daoism becomes an erroneous and inefficient metaphysical distinction. On the other hand, inspired by continental philosophers such as Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Derrida, scholars gained a new perspective on understanding the thought of Laozi and Zhuangzi. Thus, a new consensus emerges: eternal truth based on concepts and logic distorts the real world of life. According to this, the distinction between philosophical Daoism and religious Daoism is only an imaginary and conceptual distinction, which does not apply to the understanding of living Daoism.

The Religious Ethic and Mercantile Spirit in Early Modern China by Ying-shih Yü

Reviewed by: The Religious Ethic and Mercantile Spirit in Early Modern China by Ying-shih Yü Gilbert Z. Chen (bio) Ying-shih Yü. The Religious Ethic and Mercantile Spirit in Early Modern China. Translated by Yim-tze Kwong. Edited by Hoyt Cleveland Tillman. New York: Columbia University Press, 2021. 328 pp. Paperback $34.99, isbn 978-023-155-360-5. Ying-shih Yü's 1987 study of the impact of Chinese religions on the economic behavior of the merchant class during the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1912), Zhongguo jinshi zongjiao lunli yu shangren jingshen, translated here as The Religious Ethic and Mercantile Spirit in Early Modern China, is an indisputable classic in early modern Chinese history. Although it has exerted tremendous influence since its original release more than three decades ago, the book hitherto has been inaccessible to the English-language reader. This translation thus represents a welcome, albeit belated, effort to introduce this work to the Western scholarly community. The central agenda of Yü's book is to investigate the relationship between the traditional religious ethic and the indigenously developed commercial activities prior to the importation of modern Western capitalism into China since the late nineteenth century. In the process of addressing the inquiry, Yü tackles head-on two then-dominant theories. The first is Marxist historiography, which insists that capitalism is an essential stage of Chinese historical development and that the underlying economic infrastructure determines political and cultural superstructures, not vice versa. This theory rules out a priori that any cultural factor such as religious teachings could exert any influence over economic development. In contrast to the rigid economic determinist theory of Marxism, Weberian-influenced historians do not assume that the development of Chinese history mirrored the West's. In addition, they propose a more nuanced interpretation by arguing that the rise of modern capitalism in the West cannot be explained solely by a set of economic factors as Marxist scholars have insisted. Max Weber maintains that cultural factors played an intrinsic role in propelling (or thwarting) such transformation. Given that modern capitalism first developed in the West, Weber insists that indigenous cultural elements in non-Western societies such as early modern China were responsible for the failure to develop a capitalist economy in those societies. As a prominent intellectual historian, Yü unsurprisingly finds the Weberian approach more convincing than the Marxist one. Nevertheless, he disagrees with Weber's conclusion that traditional Chinese culture was always antithetical to capitalism. Instead, Yü argues that early modern China witnessed the emergence of a new "inter-worldly" religious ethos, which facilitated, rather than undermined, commercial activities. In this regard, this line of intellectual development was akin [End Page 153] to the Protestant ethic identified by Weber. But what distinguishes Yü's book as a masterpiece is that it is not only concerned with the development of new ideas among a selected group of intellectuals, but also with the impact these ideas had on the collective behavior of a specific group of people in real life. In this regard, Yü's work represents a valuable attempt at connecting intellectual history with social history. Yü traces the origin of the new religious ethic to Chan Buddhism, which first emerged during the Tang dynasty (618-906). This newborn school of Buddhism embodied paradigmatic shifts that would transform Chinese intellectual and social landscapes in the following centuries. It first redirected Buddhism from world renunciation to inner-worldly asceticism, emphasizing the positive contribution of this world to one's obtainment of enlightenment. Yü maintains that Chan Buddhism was thus comparable to Protestantism in the sense that both recognized the possibility of achieving transcendence through engaging in this world. This inner-worldly direction, furthermore, inspired, or even galvanized, its long-time competitor Daoism to reconfigure its teachings in a similar vein. Various schools of new religious Daoism emerged during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, such as the Complete Truth sect (Quanzhen jiao), which not only departed considerably from the older forms of religious Daoism which placed great emphasis on occult arts, but also advanced a step further than Chan Buddhism to promote the ideal that fulfilling one's duties in this world was the only guaranteed...

Bravest Warriors Most Ethereal, Most Human

Often depicted as pitted in cosmic struggle against nobler multitudes of spiritual or heavenly warriors, when viewed from our modernist perspective, the ghostly or demon warriors of Chinese tradition are stigmatized as being, at best, ambiguous in status and, at worst, as perverse beings of consummately evil ill repute. However, discoveries from investigation into the historical origins of these demonic soldiers or troopers demand that we regard them as much more enigmatic in their roles and functions than is initially suggested. Documented earliest references indicate not only how the concept of demon warrior first arose for the purposes of furthering and facilitating the immortality ethos of religious Daoism. Also evident from these first written mentions is the clear and unassailable fact that the prototypes for these ghostly beings were unmistakably and very often unremarkably human. Subsequent literature, especially that surviving in the genre of early medieval tales of the strange, only reinforces the notion of these sometimes real and other times fantastical purveyors of violence as occupants of the permeable vortex thinly separating the human and the supernatural worlds, allowing them to manifest themselves at will and freely in either venue. Furthermore, we learn foremost how their primal function was not unlike that of Western guardian angels in being principally tutelary, with the tacit expectation that they should serve dutifully in defense of those who either cultivated or conjured them forth, ensuring the wellbeing of the living by acting as a kind of collective bulwark against the forces of death.

The evolution of the belief of afterlife in the Han dynasty and the rise of Han pictorial carvings

The Han dynasty pictorial carvings underwent an evolution of more than three hundred years, and its rise was directly related to the Han belief in afterlife and deities. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Former Han dynasty, the cult of immortals escalated, along with the rise of the pictorial carving in tombs and temples. From the late period of Former Han to the second half of the Later Han, the sustained evolution of the belief of deities precipitated the formation of early religious Daoism. Almost simultaneously, the pictorial carvings in tombs and temples witnessed a process of upgrading from simplistic patterns, styles, and engraving techniques to sophisticated ones. As an innovative artistic form, Han pictorial carvings reflected the change of the contemporaneous belief in the after world. It is arguable that the evolution of religious belief in the Han dynasty was the main driving force of its pictorial carvings.

Inclusion and exclusion: two modes of Daoist mysticism

ABSTRACTOn the basis of etymological exploration, the essay analyzes Daoism through the lens of mysticism, studying both what we might term its religious and philosophical dimensions. The essay identifies mystical elements in both philosophical Daoist traditions and religious Daoism and notes some of their distinct features. It endeavors to show that the concept of mysticism affords a unique and instructive perspective from which to understand these traditions and explicates two modes of mystical expression and thinking – the inclusivist and exclusivist – that it asserts are represented by philosophical and religious Daoism respectively.

Taoism ed. by Mou Zhongjian (review)

part of the state cult, while the discussion of the Five Prohibitions, which were largely concerned with protecting private property, was not Confucian either (pp. 189, 198). Rituals at local god temples (as described on pp. 205–206), in which lisheng participated, also were not Confucian. Finally, I do not think that Liu has proven that ‘‘the promotion of Confucian rituals in the countryside greatly transformed rural social structures and local popular culture.’’ What he does show is that major social and institutional changes in rural Sibao were accompanied by the appropriate rituals, Confucian and non-Confucian. Despite these flaws the book is valuable for calling attention to the indispensable role of ritual in the countryside, for highlighting the importance of the lisheng, for introducing us to the Shangbao community compact, and for providing a rich picture of the deep changes that were taking place in rural western Fujian from the mid-Ming on. DAVID JOHNSON University of California, Berkeley MOU ZHONGJIAN, ed., Taoism. Translated by PAN JUNLIANG and SIMONE NORMAND. Religious Studies in Contemporary China Collection, vol. 2. Leiden: Brill, 2012. vi, 395 pp. J133, US$182 (hb). ISBN 978-90-04-17453-5 This book contains seventeen articles selected and translated into English from the original Dangdai Zhongguo zongjiao yanjiu jingxuan congshu, Daojiao juan with a new introduction by Vincent Goossaert.1 It is a volume that aims at ‘‘showcasing representative works of Taoist studies in mainland China’’ (p. 1). The articles are rearranged from the Chinese edition. The first two chapters, by Qing Xitai 卿希泰 and Wang Ka 王卡 respectively, offer a survey of the state of the field (up to AD 2002) and of primary sources, including the recent monumental Taoist Canon of China (Zhonghua Daozang 中華道藏).2 The following nine articles are arranged in a loose chronological order, based on the periods concerned: from the Eastern Han to the Qing dynasty. Among them, the first five articles concern pre-Song Daoism: the Excerpt from the Scripture of Great Peace, the legend of Laozi 老子 converting the barbarians, Cao Cao 曹操, the SixHeavens cosmology, and the Twofold Mystery studies of Tang times. They precede four articles about Song and later times: two on Inner Alchemy and two on Quanzhen 全真 Daoism. The remaining six articles are thematic: three are on ethics (environmentalism, life protection, and morality books), one on medicine, and two on ritual. Although the book’s time period starts with the Eastern Han, pre-Qin Daoist philosophers are by no means left out. Many of the articles discuss the relationship between religious Daoism (daojiao 道教) and philosophical Daoism (daojia 道家) that was established in pre-Qin times, taking the stand that the two complement each other. Hong Xiuping 洪修平 suggests that religious Daoism based its theories 1 Mou Zhongjian 牟鐘鑒, Dangdai Zhongguo zongjiao yanjiu jingxuan congshu. Daojiao juan 當代中國宗教研究精選叢書, 道教卷 (Beijing: Minzu chubanshe 民族出版社, 2008). 2 Zhang Jiyu 張繼禹 comp., Zhonghua daozang 中華道藏 (Beijing: Huaxia chubanshe 華夏 出版社, 2004). BOOK REVIEWS 237 and practices on ‘‘attaining transcendence,’’ which is a core principle in the Laozi. Tang Yijie 湯一介 notes the contributions to Daoist philosophy from religious figures by exploring the ‘‘Twofold Mystery study’’ (Chongxuan xue 重玄學) of the eminent Cheng Xuanying 成玄英, an ordained Daoist priest active in the 7th century. The Twofold Mystery studies, as Tang evaluates them, are the third stage of the evolution of Daoist philosophy, and the theoretical foundation on which the ‘‘study of nature in Taoist inner alchemy’’3 eventually would be built (p. 175). Zhang Guangbao 張廣保 shows that Inner Alchemy’s goal of ‘‘communion of the Tao and Life’’ (shengdao heyi 生道合一) on both spiritual and physical levels was shared by pre-Qin Daoist philosophers. Concepts such as obtaining longevity and immortality from the realization of the Dao, and cultivating jing 精 and qi 氣 as an essential method to that realization are already found in the Zhuangzi 莊子, among other texts of philosophical Daoism. In discussing the concept of ‘‘follow and oppose’’ (shunni 順逆), Ge Guolong 戈國龍 argues that the Inner Alchemy practices based on the principle of ‘‘follow and oppose’’ were meant to enable practitioners to ‘‘return to the origin’’ by following the Dao and reverse (i.e. ‘‘oppose’’) the bodily degeneration process caused by socialization and materialization . The Daoist goal of ‘‘returning to the origin’’ was established by philosophical Daoism at...

Yidai Tianshi: Zhang Enpu yu Taiwan Daojiao 弌代天師: 張恩溥 與臺灣道教 by Li Li-Liang 李麗涼 (review)

166 Journal of Chinese Religions Daoxue tonglun 道学通论 HU FUCHEN 胡孚琛. Beijing: Shehui kexue wenxian chubanshe 社会科学文 献出版社, 2009. x, 506 pages. ISBN 978-7-5097-0814-9. RMB 59.00. Hu Fuchen is one of China’s best-known Daoist scholars and an activist eager to accord Daoism a greater role in contemporary Chinese life. Here he offers Daoism (daoxue, not daojiao) as a “cultural strategy in the 21st century.” Writing that “national cultures are under a tide of globalization,” he says daoxue can provide a way for the Chinese people (zhonghua minzu 中华民族) to “reconstruct its spirit.” The book is mainly a summary of basic Daoist knowledge. There is a sketch history of religious Daoism (daojiao), a chapter on Daoist techniques (fangshu 方术) such as fasting, a chapter on cultivation and an introduction to the Daoist Canon. He says Daoism must reinvent itself for the modern era and offers daoxue as an alternative. The book can be seen as an effort to include Daoism in the guoxue 国学 (national learning) movement and thus make it part of the government’s push to restore certain parts of traditional Chinese culture. IAN JOHNSON, Beijing Yidai Tianshi: Zhang Enpu yu Taiwan Daojiao 弌代天師：張恩溥 與臺灣道教 LI LI-LIANG 李麗涼. Taipei: National History Office, 2012. 456 pages. ISBN 978-986-03-3103-5. NT$350. This in-depth study of the 63rd Heavenly Master Zhang Enpu 張恩溥 (1894–1969) represents a major accomplishment in the field of Daoist Studies. One of the book’s most noteworthy features is its interdisciplinary approach, with Li making apt use of a wide range of documents as well as extensive field research. She also deserves special credit for collecting many valuable texts from Zhang’s descendents (including even family letters!), as well as numerous photographs. All in all, this book, which earned a research award from Taiwan’s National History Office, promises to be of great benefit to the study of modern Taiwanese religions. Yidai Tianshi is divided into a total of twelve chapters, including the Introduction and Conclusion. Chapters 2–4 examine the history of Zhang’s links to Taiwan, as well as the Book Notes 167 factors underlying his decision to move there in 1949. The Daoist movements he helped establish in Taiwan are treated in chapter 5, while chapter 6 describes the master-disciple networks formed under his leadership. Following chapter 7, which includes information on the reprinting of the Daoist Canon (Daozang 道藏), chapter 8 features a wide-ranging exploration of Zhang’s participation in ritual activities sponsored and/or patronized by officials, local temples, and families. Zhang’s interactions with various sectarian groups like the Yiguandao 一貫道 and Cihuitang 慈惠堂 are the subject of chapter 9, and chapter 10 examines his efforts in proselytizing overseas. The final chapter focuses on his passing away and the complex succession struggle that ensued. All in all, the detailed descriptions and sensitive analysis presented in Yidai Tianshi mark a significant step forward in our understanding of the history of modern Daoism. At the same time, however, this work suffers from one major shortcoming, namely Li’s failure to cite or systematically discuss relevant secondary scholarship, not to mention the state of the field of Daoist Studies. Most striking is the utter neglect of Wang Chien-chuan’s 王見川 doctoral dissertation, which is directly related to this book’s topic, as well as his 2009 paper on the links between Taiwanese Daoist priests and the Heavenly Masters.1 Vincent Goossaert’s work on Heavenly Master Daoism is similarly ignored. 2 The author also missed a valuable opportunity to consider her findings in light of those published by other scholars who have done research on modern Daoism, especially Kenneth Dean, Liu Xun 劉迅, David Palmer, etc. Similarly, in chapter 9, Li might have analyzed the links between Daoism and sectarian movements based on relevant research by Philip Clart, Prasenjit Duara, and Thomas DuBois, as well as key works by Japanese scholars. Perhaps even more importantly, even the limited amount of secondary scholarship mentioned in the book’s Introduction is only perfunctorily summarized or cited in the notes, without any attempt to assess its overall significance. Li’s neglect of relevant research results in no way detracts from her book’s many contributions. Nonetheless, it...

Daoxue tonglun 道学通论 by Hu Fuchen 胡孚琛 (review)

166 Journal of Chinese Religions Daoxue tonglun 道学通论 HU FUCHEN 胡孚琛. Beijing: Shehui kexue wenxian chubanshe 社会科学文 献出版社, 2009. x, 506 pages. ISBN 978-7-5097-0814-9. RMB 59.00. Hu Fuchen is one of China’s best-known Daoist scholars and an activist eager to accord Daoism a greater role in contemporary Chinese life. Here he offers Daoism (daoxue, not daojiao) as a “cultural strategy in the 21st century.” Writing that “national cultures are under a tide of globalization,” he says daoxue can provide a way for the Chinese people (zhonghua minzu 中华民族) to “reconstruct its spirit.” The book is mainly a summary of basic Daoist knowledge. There is a sketch history of religious Daoism (daojiao), a chapter on Daoist techniques (fangshu 方术) such as fasting, a chapter on cultivation and an introduction to the Daoist Canon. He says Daoism must reinvent itself for the modern era and offers daoxue as an alternative. The book can be seen as an effort to include Daoism in the guoxue 国学 (national learning) movement and thus make it part of the government’s push to restore certain parts of traditional Chinese culture. IAN JOHNSON, Beijing Yidai Tianshi: Zhang Enpu yu Taiwan Daojiao 弌代天師：張恩溥 與臺灣道教 LI LI-LIANG 李麗涼. Taipei: National History Office, 2012. 456 pages. ISBN 978-986-03-3103-5. NT$350. This in-depth study of the 63rd Heavenly Master Zhang Enpu 張恩溥 (1894–1969) represents a major accomplishment in the field of Daoist Studies. One of the book’s most noteworthy features is its interdisciplinary approach, with Li making apt use of a wide range of documents as well as extensive field research. She also deserves special credit for collecting many valuable texts from Zhang’s descendents (including even family letters!), as well as numerous photographs. All in all, this book, which earned a research award from Taiwan’s National History Office, promises to be of great benefit to the study of modern Taiwanese religions. Yidai Tianshi is divided into a total of twelve chapters, including the Introduction and Conclusion. Chapters 2–4 examine the history of Zhang’s links to Taiwan, as well as the ...

墮胎——道家和道教的觀點

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.道家思想尊重人性、堅持貴生輕物、生命至上，維護人的發展。道家對待生死的態度是遵循自然本性，主張順其自然。從這一觀點出發，墮胎不是自然而然，而是通過人為的手段達到其他的目的。道教除了順其自然的思想外，還強調陰陽平衡、尊道積德。道教認為，胎兒具有靈性，因此是有生命的，殺死胎兒屬於殺生惡行。道家和道教對待墮胎的態度無疑對於當今審視中國墮胎政策，富有一定的啟示意義。雖然，道家和道教沒有使用“權利”這樣的倫理語言，但卻反映了對生命的尊重。Daoism, one of China’s major philosophical and religioustraditions, emphasizes such notions as holism, organicism, andnaturalness, promoting the idea of living in line with the rulesand patterns of nature. This essay examines the Daoist ethics ofliving naturally with special attention given to abortion. It pointsout that for philosophical Daoism, abortion is not acceptablebecause it is considered an “artificial” action for a self-servingpurpose, such as aborting an unwanted baby girl after a sex teston a fetus. For religious Daoism, abortion is not acceptable because the fetus has a spirit and a soul. Both traditions maintain the importance of the sacredness of all life. Yet the language of rights and choices is absent in Daoism, and the aim of the essay is to present the basic teaching of Daoism and show that it is relevant to contemporary bioethical issues. With the increasing use of modern medical technology that makes the control or manipulation of the human body much easier, it is utterly important for humanity to think about the nature of human beings and the relationship between itself and the natural world. The essay also contends that Daoism offers a perspective to reflect on the one-child policy in China that has been practiced in the past few decades.DOWNLOAD HISTORY | This article has been downloaded 1355 times in Digital Commons before migrating into this platform.

Establishing the Altar: The Realized Writ of the Announcement Rite in the Grand Jiao

An analysis of the structure, content, and function of the Zhenwen in the Announcement (suqi) ritual shows that its purpose is to enact a feudal-like “contract” with the cosmic powers, spiritual officials, and the Holy-Emperors of the five directions. The ritual provides an opportunity for the priestʹs mystical union with the Dao. The Zhenwen offers a strong sense of security to the community that sponsors a Festival of Renewal (jiao) in which the five Zhenwen are implanted in the universe. Because the Zhenwen contacts and “contracts” the sovereign deities of the five directions and their various subordinates, such as the controllers of the charts and registers, this ensures that the proper functioning of the universe continues, and it prevents natural disaster or untimely death. Thus, the Zhenwen fulfills an important role in religious Daoism in that it spiritualizes both the Daoist priest in mystical union and the religious community in securing harmony. The Lingbao zhenwen plays a pivotal function in the liturgy.

The Scripture on Great Peace: The Taiping Jing and the Beginnings of Daoism (review)

Reviewed by: The Scripture on Great Peace: The Taiping Jing and the Beginnings of Daoism Harold Swindall (bio) Barbara Hendrischke . The Scripture on Great Peace: The Taiping Jing and the Beginnings of Daoism. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006. lxvi, 276 pp. Hardcover $60.00, ISBN: 978-0-520-24788-8. This landmark translation illumines China's spiritual and social history in a way which few others have. Although it is not part of China's mainstream intellectual tradition, the "great peace scripture" (abbreviated as "the TPJ") never received the attention it deserves among sinologists until Werner Eichorn took an interest in it in the 1940s (p. 1). The translator, a senior research fellow at the School of Modern Languages at the University of New South Wales, has also concentrated the scholarship of Max Kaltenmark and numerous Japanese scholars, such as Ofuchi Ninji and Yoshioka Yoshitoyo, into her creation. Hendrischke's introduction begins with the history of the term "great peace" (taiping), which dates from before the Han dynasty and signified an ideal social state in which all classes were in their place and lived in bounteous harmony with heaven's order. She points out that "great peace" had a "programmatic sense" to "authorize a change of power" in which a new social order would establish this state of collective good. The notion was much influenced by the Daodejing, in which Laozi advocates ruling through virtue and "nonpurposive action," which later thinkers associated with great peace (pp. 5–6). Indeed, the imprint of Laozi can be seen throughout the TPJ, as well as that of Zhuangzi, who Hendrischke quotes in connection with his definition of great peace (p. 8). The term was also linked to aspects of Confucian thought (p. 10). All of these variations on the great peace theme had circulated in Chinese thought for centuries by the time of the TPJ's composition. The TPJ, however, moves away from the benevolence and proper etiquette emphasized by Confucius and turns to communion with heaven and nature on the part of all society as the way to salvation (pp. 13–14). Dating from the decadent end of the Han Ddynasty in the second century A.D., the TPJ addresses a society out of alignment with the dao of heaven and indicates the way back to the mythical society of early antiquity, when great peace was in force. Its main themes are the practice of maintaining vital qi, the rejection of culture (wen) in favor of nature, and the prioritization of heaven by both rulers and people, which will result in fair treatment of girls, sufficient wealth for the whole population, and general social justice—in short, great peace. Like the writings of Plato, the TPJ's text consists of dialogs between a sage, called the "Celestial Master," and his disciple, who he addresses as "Perfected," another term Hendrischke traces to Zhuangzi (p. 18). The Celestial Master claims to have been sent by heaven with the mission of warning a sinful society to repent in time to avert impending doom. Hendrischke notes that this eschatological element [End Page 220] separates the TPJ from the rest of late Han literati discourse and is one of the book's "radical" aspects (p. 16). On the other hand, she emphasizes that the main lines of thought in the TPJ conform to late Han thinking and social conditions, especially "the misery and despair, as well as [the] beliefs and hopes . . . of the late Han peasants," many of them landless, who wandered through the countryside, eager for social reform (pp. 16–19). This latter consideration leads Hendrischke to devote space to the great peace movements of the second century A.D., including the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and efforts to found societies fair to the people; the appearance of Zhang Daoling and the Celestial Masters, with their theocratic missionary zeal; and early religious Daoism, into whose canon the TPJ was adopted (pp. 16–31). She also mentions the Taiping Rebellion of the 1850s (p. 5). All these movements aimed at overthrowing or reforming the existing dynasty and establishing a just social order attuned to what they saw as the way of heaven. Another rebel movement inspired by...

On Yinfujing of Religious Daoism

On Yinfujing of Religious Daoism

Women in Daoism (review)

Reviewed by: Women in Daoism Robin R. Wang (bio) Catherine Despeux and Livia Kohn. Women in Daoism. Cambridge, MA: Three Pines Press, 2003. viii, 296 pp. Paperback $25.00, ISBN 1-931483-01-9. The Daodejing observes: "Everything embodies yin and embraces yang; through the blending of these qi, they attain harmony" (chapter 42). How, one may ask, does this yin-yang interplay actually take place in the universe and in human life? What is the role and function of the yin force? How does yin play out in many aspects of human life? Women in Daoism by Catherine Despeux and Livia Kohn, perhaps for the first time, takes its readers on a journey to discover the dynamic world of yin supremacy, particularly as yin is manifested in the multifaceted roles, functions, and realities of women's lives. Their impressive effort succeeds in transforming what would otherwise be a merely conceptual investigation into a rich narrative disclosing the vivid world of women in Daoism that allows readers to envision what it would be like to seek genuine harmony with the universe. The book is divided into three parts and ten chapters. Each of these is subdivided into topics ranging from "The Mother of the Dao" to "Women's Inner Alchemy." The first part, on "Goddesses," goes beyond identifying these divine objects of religious devotion and offers an appreciation of the Daoist worldview [End Page 69] and the role of women within it. The second part, on "Immortals and Ordinands," surveys the actual records of women's lives throughout Chinese history, the communities in which they have sought spiritual perfection, and whatever teachings that they impart to other women who might take up the path to immortality. The third part, on "Women's Transformation," is a detailed description and analysis of actual Daoist practices, culminating in the inner alchemy by which immortality, flowing from a life progressively liberated from the conventions and restraints of the patriarchal family, can actually be achieved. This book is not simply an attempt at Chinese intellectual history but an exceptional invitation to contemporary women to discover what might be the most valuable quality in their own lives and to cultivate it accordingly. The complexity of Chinese women's identities, roles, and actual lived experience has become an increasingly central topic for investigation. Much work has been done on the Confucian tradition, focusing on the relationship between Confucianism and women. But little attention has been directed toward the Daoist tradition. This book offers a significant resource for moving in that direction. The authors insightfully point out that "Daoism offers a social alternative for women in that it opens paths to pursue their own goals as independent agents, be it the practice of self-cultivation, service as mediums, nuns, or priests, or [the] attainment of immortality" (p. 5). These options have provided women with a reliable path toward spiritual wisdom and emancipation. Five basic images of the roles of women have emerged from the authors' analysis of the history of Daoism: (1) the female as mother, the life-giver and nurturing power of the universe; (2) women as representative of the cosmic force of yin , which fully complements the male yang; (3) women as authoritative teachers in the esoteric movements of religious Daoism; (4) women as possessors of empowering supernatural techniques who have the wisdom to use them properly; and (5) the female body as the seat of the essential ingredients and processes of spiritual transformation (p. 5). While these roles have materialized at different stages of history, a full grasp of the magnitude of the presence of women in Daoism requires a critical evaluation of each cumulative impact. At the risk of simplifying the rich lessons to be gathered from this book, let me highlight just three important themes from its abundant contents. First, there is the construction of an ontological basis for the female identity. The authors offer a convincing case that women, as representatives of cosmic yin, embody a distinctive set of forces and components in the universe. This awareness allocates a paradigm shift in the discernment of the roles of woman. In the mainstream of Confucian culture throughout history, women's identity and self...

道德生死觀下的臨終關懷辨析

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.戀生懼死是人之常情。對於一個瀕臨死亡的人來說，其最大的悲劇莫過於沉浸於對死亡的心理焦慮之中。因此，臨終關懷的重要價值指向應是最大限度地減輕瀕死者的心理痛苦。人生的態度與死亡的觀點息息相闕，瀕死者的悲哀正在於死亡焦慮中的生死困惑。道家文化倡導出生入死、道法自然、無為處世。它以低音悠揚但可震憾現代人心曲的生死吟唱，可以引導臨終者走出死亡焦慮的心理誤區，消解悲苦於無形。安樂死是臨終關懷的應有之意。道家生死論尚自然，法自然，主張人為要與自然之序相協調，不應違反自然而強做妄為。道家反對用過枉之舉去擾亂人的生死變化，認為在死亡來臨時，順其自然，享其“安樂”，尊嚴而歸是不失為善終的。因此，在道家生死觀下，“被動安樂死”（即放棄治療）實為良策，而各種形式的“主動安樂死”（包括醫助致死）均與道家生死論主旨相悖。In confronting death there are differences among people regarding their deep concerns. A survey shows that most Chinese Catholics are worried about what will happen to them after death, whereas most other Chinese are concerned about unfinished life plans, unfulfilled familial obligations, and so on. However, most Western and Chinese authors agree that a great number of terminally ill patients suffer from anxiety, sadness, and depression. And no one denies that unease, puzzle, solitude, and even anger are often experienced by many dying patients. Against this background, this essay argues that the mental sufferings of terminally ill patients can appropriately be healed by taking the Daoist perspective over life and death. Moreover, the essay demonstrates that the Daoist position sheds light on the debate around the issue of passive and active euthanasia.According to the Daoist, the Dao is the way of nature. Nature is a universal process of constant change, binding all things together into a vast and natural harmony. Humans should live freely, naturally, and spontaneously in accord with the Dao. From the Daoist perspective, life and death can be analogized as day and night. They constitute two complementary aspects of nature. Where there is life, there is death. Everything living dies, and death implies new life. In short, just as the ceaseless transformation of four seasons in nature, life and death constitute a balanced knot in the harmonious chain of constant natural changes. Therefore, humans should take death naturally, just as they take life naturally. Humans should not have unnatural worry or anxiety on death in their mind.As there are the natural rules of the Dao, one should follow these rules rather than create artificial human laws. For the Daoist, one artificial expectation for humans is to gain an eternal life without death (here the classical philosophical Daoism remarkably differs from the subsequent religious Daoism which pursues immortality). The other unnatural concerns include mental inseparability from the benefits, utilities, and complicated human relations offered in the living world. The Daoist believes that life and death should be identified as one process and that humans and nature should be taken as a unity.Concerning the issue of euthanasia, we believe that the Dao as following nature is consistent with the position of so-called passive euthanasia. Passive euthanasia allows the terminally ill patient naturally to accept death by foregoing aggressive medical procedures when such procedures cannot do more benefit than harm to the patient. Peaceably accepting death when it naturally comes is the human action performed in accord with the Dao. Launching extra human efforts against natural processes is against the Dao.However, the Daoist cannot advocate any type of active euthanasia or physician assisted suicide. On the one hand, the Daoist admires the man who does not use unnatural instruments to prolong the period of dying in the natural process of death. On the other hand, however, to take active means to kill the patient is to act against the Dao. Indeed, actively to kill the patient is on purpose to destroy the natural mechanism and process of human life. It is to intervene with the spontaneous way of nature in the worst sense. Therefore, the Daoist cannot consider it good to take human life with the help of medical tools.DOWNLOAD HISTORY | This article has been downloaded 44 times in Digital Commons before migrating into this platform.

On the Authenticity of the "Preface" to the Collection of Poetry Written at the Orchid Pavilion

One of the most famous pieces of early medieval Chinese prose is the preface written by Wang Xizhi to the collection of poems composed at a gathering he hosted in 353 at the Orchid Pavilion on his estate. In recent years Wang Xizhi's authorship of a large portion of the extant version of this preface has been questioned, most notably by Guo Moruo. A closer inquiry into Wang's attitude toward religious Daoism and the motive for his apparent rejection (as well as that of other contemporaries) of Zhuangzi's view of the relativity of life and death proves that the reasons adduced to question Wang's authorship of the preface are based on a misunderstanding of his thought.