Download or read book Celestial Masters written by Terry Kleeman and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-10-26 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 142 CE, the divine Lord Lao descended to Mount Cranecall (Sichuan province) to establish a new covenant with humanity through a man named Zhang Ling, the first Celestial Master. Facing an impending apocalypse caused by centuries of sin, Zhang and his descendants forged a communal faith centering on a universal priesthood, strict codes of conduct, and healing through the confession of sins; this faith was based upon a new, bureaucratic relationship with incorruptible supernatural administrators. By the fourth century, Celestial Master Daoism had spread to all parts of China, and has since played a key role in China’s religious and intellectual history. Celestial Masters is the first book in any Western language devoted solely to the founding of the world religion Daoism. It traces the movement from the mid-second century CE through the sixth century, examining all surviving primary documents in both secular and canonical sources to offer a comprehensive account of the development of this poorly understood religion. It also provides a detailed analysis of ritual life within the movement, covering the roles of common believer or Daoist citizen, novice, and priest or libationer.
Download or read book Laughing at the Dao written by Livia Kohn and published by Three Pine Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Xiaodao lun (Laughing at the Dao) is an important document of the debates among Buddhists and Daoists in sixth-century China. These debates contributed to the process of cultural adaptation of Buddhism, which had to accommodate itself to the worldview of the Confucian elite, the Chinese sense of ethnic superiority, and China's indigenous religion of Daoism. Written by the Daoist renegade Zhen Luan in the year 570, the text aims to expose inconsistencies in Daoist doctrine, cosmology, ritual, and religious practice. In this effort it presents many aspects of Daoist doctrine and practice, providing ample citations from numerous Daoist sources often otherwise lost. In a complete and fully annotated translation of the Xiaodao lun based closely on the work of Japanese scholars, Livia Kohn places the work within the context of the debates and exposes the political schemes behind the apparently religious disputes. The translation is carefully framed by a thorough introduction on the history of the debates as well as by two appendixes: one summarizes materials of both earlier and later debates; the other analyzes the Daoist sources cited in the Xiaodao lun. Richly informed and highly relevant to an understanding of medieval China, Kohn's work greatly enhances the study of medieval Buddhist and Daoist myth, rhetoric, and ideology.
Download or read book Great Clarity written by Fabrizio Pregadio and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2006-02-27 with total page 405 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first book to examine extensively the religious aspects of Chinese alchemy. Its main focus is the relation of alchemy to the Daoist traditions of the early medieval period (third to sixth centuries). It shows how alchemy contributed to and was tightly integrated into the elaborate body of doctrines and practices that Daoists built at that time, from which Daoism as we know it today evolved. The book also clarifies the origins of Chinese alchemy and the respective roles of alchemy and meditation in self-cultivation practices. It contains full translations of three important medieval texts, all of them accompanied by running commentaries, making available for the first time in English the gist of the early Chinese alchemical corpus.
Download or read book Buddhism and Taoism Face to Face written by Christine Mollier and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2008-01-01 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reveals dimensions of the interaction between Buddhism and Taoism in medieval China. This book demonstrates the competition and complementarity of the two great Chinese religions in their quest to address personal and collective fears of diverse ills, including sorcery, famine, and untimely death.
Download or read book The A to Z of Taoism written by Julian F. Pas and published by Scarecrow Press. This book was released on 2006-01-13 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Taoism, the set of philosophical teachings and religious practices rooted in the understanding of the Chinese character Tao, or "The Way," was founded by the Chinese philosopher Laozi in the 6th Century BCE, whose work, the Tao Te Ching (The Book of the Way and its Virtue) laid the philosophical foundation for the religion's beliefs. This volume starts, as it should, with a detailed chronology of Taoism and its relationship both to China and other teachings. The introduction inserts it further in this basic context. Then the dictionary section, consisting of several hundred cross-referenced entries, provides a more detailed treatment of significant persons, nonpersons (gods and demons), concepts, practices, rituals, scriptures, and schools. The bibliography suggests further reading.
Download or read book Culture and Power in the Reconstitution of the Chinese Realm 200 600 written by Scott Pearce and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-03-23 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The period between the fall of the Han in 220 and the reunification of the Chinese realm in the late sixth century receives short shrift in most accounts of Chinese history. The period is usually characterized as one of disorder and dislocation, ethnic strife, and bloody court struggles. Its lone achievement, according to many accounts, is the introduction of Buddhism. In the eight essays of Culture and Power in the Reconstitution of the Chinese Realm, 200-600, the authors seek to chart the actual changes occurring in this period of disunion, and to show its relationship to what preceded and followed it. This exploration of a neglected period in Chinese history addresses such diverse subjects as the era's economy, Daoism, Buddhist art, civil service examinations, forays into literary theory, and responses to its own history.
Download or read book Historical Dictionary of Taoism written by Julian F. Pas and published by Scarecrow Press. This book was released on 1998-06-04 with total page 477 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This reference book on Taoism, one of the major spiritual traditions of China, includes in its coverage both Taoist philosophy and Taoist religion. An introduction provides overall insight into Taoist development through the ages, while the dictionary itself is comprised of 275 entries that define Taoist concepts, scriptures, deities, practices, and personalities. Includes an extensive bibliography.
Download or read book The Encyclopedia of Taoism written by Fabrizio Pregadio and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-05-13 with total page 1731 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Encyclopedia of Taoism provides comprehensive coverage of Taoist religion, thought and history, reflecting the current state of Taoist scholarship. Taoist studies have progressed beyond any expectation in recent years. Researchers in a number of languages have investigated topics virtually unknown only a few years previously, while others have surveyed for the first time textual, doctrinal and ritual corpora. The Encyclopedia presents the full gamut of this new research. The work contains approximately 1,750 entries, which fall into the following broad categories: surveys of general topics; schools and traditions; persons; texts; terms; deities; immortals; temples and other sacred sites. Terms are given in their original characters, transliterated and translated. Entries are thoroughly cross-referenced and, in addition, 'see also' listings are given at the foot of many entries. Attached to each entry are references taking the reader to a master bibliography at the end of the work. There is chronology of Taoism and the whole is thoroughly indexed. There is no reference work comparable to the Encyclopedia of Taoism in scope and focus. Authored by an international body of experts, the Encyclopedia will be an essential addition to libraries serving students and scholars in the fields of religious studies, philosophy and religion, and Asian history and culture.
Download or read book Taoist Ritual and Popular Cults of Southeast China written by Kenneth Dean and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2014-07-14 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most commentators imagine contemporary China to be monolithic, atheistic, and materialist, and wholly divorced from its earlier customs, but Kenneth Dean combines evidence from historical texts and extensive fieldwork to reveal an entirely different picture. Since 1979, when the Chinese government relaxed some of its most stringent controls on religion, villagers in the isolated areas of Southeast China have maintained an "underground" effort to restore traditional rituals and local cults. Originally published in 1993. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Download or read book Transcendence and Divine Passion written by Suzanne Elizabeth Cahill and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 1993 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on medieval Chinese poetry, fiction, and religious scriptures, this book illuminates the greatest goddess of Taoism and her place in Chinese society.
Download or read book The Rhetoric of Immediacy written by Bernard Faure and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-06-08 with total page 415 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Through a highly sensitive exploration of key concepts and metaphors, Bernard Faure guides Western readers in appreciating some of the more elusive aspects of the Chinese tradition of Chan Buddhism and its outgrowth, Japanese Zen. He focuses on Chan's insistence on "immediacy"--its denial of all traditional mediations, including scripture, ritual, good works--and yet shows how these mediations have always been present in Chan. Given this apparent duplicity in its discourse, Faure reveals how Chan structures its practice and doctrine on such mental paradigms as mediacy/immediacy, sudden/gradual, and center/margins.
Download or read book Tao Te Ching written by Laozi and published by . This book was released on 1972 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Cultural Approaches to Studying Religion written by M. Cooper Minister and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2023-11-30 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examining the analytic tools of scholars in religious studies, as well as in related disciplines that have shaped the field, this updated textbook includes cultural approaches from anthropology, history, literature, and critical studies in race, sexuality, and gender. Each chapter is written by a leading scholar and includes: the biographical and historical context of each theorist their approaches and key writings analysis and evaluation of each theory a list of key terms suggested further reading Part One: Comparative Approaches considers how major features such as taboo, texts, myths, and ritual work across religious traditions. This section explores the work of Mary Douglas, Phyllis Trible, Wendy Doniger, Catherine Bell and, new to this edition, Tomoko Masuzawa, whose contributions reveal the colonialist assumptions of the comparative, world religions model. Part Two: Examining Particularities analyzes the comparative approach through the work of Alice Walker, Charles Long, and Caroline Walker Bynum, who all suggest that the specifics of race, body, place and time must be considered. Part Three: Expanding Boundaries examines Gloria Anzaldúa's language of religion, as well as the work of Judith Butler on performative, queer theories of religion, Saba Mahmood, whose work considers postcolonial religious encounters, secularism, and the relationship between “East” and “West”. New to this edition is Jasbir Puar's work on work on affect, gender, sexuality, and disability. Along with a list of key terms, each section now includes an introduction highlighting the contributions of each thinker and their relation to previous theories that dominated the field.
Download or read book The Teachings and Practices of the Early Quanzhen Taoist Masters written by Stephen Eskildsen and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stephen Eskildsen's book offers an in-depth study of the beliefs and practices of the Quanzhen (Complete Realization) School of Taoism, the predominant school of monastic Taoism in China. The Quanzhen School was founded in the latter half of the twelfth century by the eccentric holy man Wan Zhe (1113–1170), whose work was continued by his famous disciples commonly known as the Seven Realized Ones. This study draws upon surviving texts to examine the Quanzhen masters' approaches to mental discipline, intense asceticism, cultivation of health and longevity, mystical experience, supernormal powers, death and dying, charity and evangelism, and ritual. From these primary sources, Eskildsen provides a clear understanding of the nature of Quanzhen Taoism and reveals its core emphasis to be the cultivation of clarity and purity of mind that occurs not only through seated meditation, but also throughout the daily activities of life.
Download or read book Cultural Approaches to Studying Religion written by Sarah J. Bloesch and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2018-10-18 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first book to provide an introduction to contemporary cultural approaches to the study of religion. This book makes sophisticated ideas accessible at an introductory level, and examines the analytic tools of scholars in religious studies, as well as in related disciplines that have shaped the field including anthropology, history, literature, and critical studies in race, sexuality, and gender. Each chapter is written by a leading scholar and includes: · the biographical and historical context of each theorist · their approaches and key writings · analysis and evaluation of each theory · suggested further reading. Part One: Comparative Approaches considers how major features such as taboo, texts, myths and ritual work across religious traditions by exploring the work of Mary Douglas, Phyllis Trible, Wendy Doniger and Catherine Bell. Part Two: Examining Particularities analyzes the comparative approach through the work of Alice Walker, Charles Long and Caroline Walker Bynum, who all suggest that the specifics of race, body, place and time must be considered. Part Three: Expanding Boundaries examines Gloria Anzaldúa's language of religion, as well as the work of Judith Butler on performative, queer theories of religion, and concludes with Saba Mahmood, whose work considers postcolonial religious encounters, secularism, and the relationship between “East” and “West.” Reflecting the cultural turn and challenging the existing canon, this is the anthology instructors have been waiting for. For primary texts by the theorists discussed, please consult The Bloomsbury Reader in Cultural Approaches to the Study of Religion, edited by Sarah J. Bloesch and Meredith Minister.
Download or read book Society and the Supernatural in Song China written by Edward L. Davis and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2001-06-01 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Society and the Supernatural in Song China is at once a meticulous examination of spirit possession and exorcism in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and a social history of the full panoply of China's religious practices and practitioners at the moment when she was poised to dominate the world economy. Although the Song dynasty (960-1276) is often identified with the establishment of Confucian orthodoxy, Edward Davis demonstrates the renewed vitality of the dynasty's Taoist, Buddhist, and local religious traditions. He charts the rise of hundreds of new temple-cults and the lineages of clerical exorcists and vernacular priests; the increasingly competitive interaction among all practitioners of therapeutic ritual; and the wide social range of their patrons and clients.
Download or read book Studying Religion written by Russell McCutcheon and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-11-12 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Widely used as a primer, a class text, or just a provocation to critical thinking, Studying Religion clearly explains the methods and theories employed in the academic study of religion by tackling the problem of how we define religion. Written for newcomers to the field, its chapters explore the three main ways in which religion is defined and, along the way, also considers a range of related topics, from the history and functions of religion to public discourse on religion, religion in the courts, and the classification of religions. The works of classic and contemporary scholars—from Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud to Bruce Lincoln and Wendy Doniger—are analyzed and explored in its readable chapters and detailed supporting materials. Studying Religion represents a shift away from the traditional world religions approach and, instead, invites readers to consider how they divide up, name, and come to know the world around them. Thoroughly revised throughout, this second edition now includes a significantly expanded glossary, summaries of technical terms and global case studies at the end of each chapter, and additional biographies of key scholars mentioned. This book will be invaluable to all students of religious studies—whether in the introductory class or as an example of an alternative way of approaching the field.
