Download or read book Traces of a Daoist Immortal written by Louis Komjathy and published by . This book was released on 2024-05-30 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A study, including annotated translations, of materials associated with the Daoist mountain hermit and eventual immortal Chén Tuán 陳摶 (Xīyí 希夷 [Infinitesimal Subtlety]; d. 989). Includes explorations of Daoist views and practices related to sleeping, dreaming, and temporality.
Download or read book Traces of a Daoist Immortal written by Louis Komjathy and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2024-04-25 with total page 611 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traces of a Daoist Immortal is a Daoist-infused tour de force on the Daoist mountain hermit Chén Tuán 陳摶 (Xīyí 希夷 [Infinitesimal Subtlety]; d. 989) and his fellow “hidden immortals.” Breaking various academic taboos, including hyper-historicism, social constructivism, and conformist mentalities, here Komjathy, in an aspirational gesture towards unbridled inquiry, offers annotated translations and scholarly introductions to ten major works associated with the Daoist immortal. The book also contains a cutting-edge, mythopoetic introduction that addresses the life and legend of Chén Tuán, his connection to the Western Marchmount of Huàshān 華山 (Mount Hua; Huàyīn, Shǎnxī), Daoist views about sleeping, dreaming, waking, as well as Daoist time-being.
Download or read book The Story of Han Xiangzi written by Erzeng Yang and published by University of Washington Press. This book was released on 2011-07-01 with total page 510 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this seventeenth-century Chinese novel, Han Xiangzi, best known as one of the Eight Immortals, seeks and achieves immortality and then devotes himself to converting his materialistic, politically ambitious Confucian uncle—Han Yu, a real historical figure—to Daoism. Written in lively vernacular prose interspersed with poems and songs, the novel takes its readers across China, to the heavens, and into the underworld. Readers listen to debates among Confucians, Daoists, and Buddhists and witness trials of faith and the performance of magical feats. In the mode of the famous religious novel Journey to the West, The Story of Han Xiangzi uses colorful characters, twists of plot, witty dialogue, and action suitable for a superhero comic book to convey its religious message—that worldly life is ephemeral and that true contentment can be found only through Daoist cultivation. This is the first translation into any Western language of Han Xiangzi quanzhuan (literally, The Complete Story of Han Xiangzi). On one level, the novel is a delightful adventure; on another, it is serious theology. Although The Story of Han Xiangzi’s irreverent attitude toward the Confucian establishment prevented its acceptance by literary critics in imperial China, it has remained popular among Chinese readers for four centuries. Philip Clart’s introduction outlines the Han Xiangzi story cycle, presents Yang Erzeng in his social context, assesses the literary merits and religious significance of the text, and explores the theory and practice of inner alchemy. This unabridged translation will appeal to students of Chinese literature and to general readers who enjoy international fiction, as well as to readers with an interest in Daoism.
Download or read book The Eight Immortals of Taoism written by Man-Ho Kwok and published by Random House (UK). This book was released on 1990 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of tales and legends about the semi-divine Eight Immortals of Chinese Taoism, each of whom is supposed to have lived as an historical person. However the main role of the Eight Immortals is as symbols of the success of Taoist discipline and magic.
Download or read book Images of the Immortal written by Paul R. Katz and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2000-01-01 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Palace of Eternal Joy (Yongle gong) is a mammoth cult site dedicated to one of late imperial China’s most popular deities, Lu Dongbin. In one of the first book-length studies of a Chinese sacred site, Paul Katz focuses on the Palace’s role in the development of Lu's legend. This highly innovative approach takes into account the various "histories" of the Palace presented in different texts and surpasses previous scholarship by stressing the ways in which the site both reflected and produced cultural diversity. Katz breaks new ground by analyzing the texts in terms of the textuality--the processes by which they were produced, transmitted, and understood. The study begins with a detailed description of the Palace of Eternal Joy and a brief account of its history. The reader is then introduced to the cult of Lu Dongbin. Special consideration is given to various hagiographical traditions, particularly those that influenced the growth of his cult at Yongle. Throughout late imperial China, a growing number of worshipers (among them scholar-officials, Taoist priests, artisans, and dramatists) created an ever-burgeoning variety of images of Lu, ranging from a patron god of ink-makers and prostitutes to a member of that powerful yet rambunctious group of spirits known as the Eight Immortals. In this context, the author explores the Perfect Realization Taoist movement's adoption of Lu's cult during the Jin and Yuan dynasties and highlight the social and religious factors that led to Lu's immense popularity in north China during the late imperial era. Katz next looks at the four type of inscriptions found at the Palace (commemorative, official, hagiographical, and poetic) and identifies the Palace patrons who worshiped there and contributed to its growth. In the description and analysis of the Palace murals that follow, he divides these works into two types: those painted to provide a setting for, and even an object of, Taoist rituals performed at the Palace; and those used to instruct Perfect Realization Taoists and perhaps pilgrims. The final section traces the reception of the Palace texts among the people of Yongle and its environs. Here Katz examines the ways in which patrons tried to impose their representations of the Palace’s history and the cult of Lu Dongbin on other members of the community and assesses the extent to which these efforts succeeded. Images of the Immortal is richly informed by a wide reading in social, cultural, and literary theory as well as a thorough awareness of previous work in comparative and Chinese religion. Scholars of Taoism, Chinese popular religion, and art history will find it especially rewarding for its thought-provoking reinterpretation of an important religious figure and his cult.
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 Immortal Sisters written by Thomas Cleary and published by North Atlantic Books. This book was released on 1996-11-11 with total page 121 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Immortal Sisters presents life stories and teachings of distinguished female Taoist adepts who lived from the third to twelfth centuries. Among them is the poet and mystic Sun Bu-er, who passed into folklore as one of the famous Seven Immortals and appears as a character in countless popular novels of China. These accomplished women, renowned in their own day and in history, represent a uniquely female heritage of spiritual mastery. Through poems, stories, teachings, and commentaries, Immortal Sisters sheds light on the spiritual methods taught and practiced by these women and illustrates the importance of the feminine in Taoism.
Download or read book Taoism written by John Eaton Calthorpe Blofeld and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 1979-01 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Introduces Taoism and its spiritual teachings.
Download or read book Material Virtue written by Mark Csikszentmihalyi and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2021-09-13 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An examination of both excavated and transmitted texts that link ethics and natural philosophy, Material Virtue narrates the history of a neglected tradition that argues virtue has physical presence in the body, and rewrites the formative period of Confucianism.
Download or read book The Paradox of Being written by Poul Andersen and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2021-03-01 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The question of truth has never been more urgent than today, when the distortion of facts and the imposition of pseudo-realities in the service of the powerful have become the order of the day. In The Paradox of Being Poul Andersen addresses the concept of truth in Chinese Daoist philosophy and ritual. His approach is unapologetically universalist, and the book may be read as a call for a new way of studying Chinese culture, one that does not shy away from approaching “the other” in terms of an engagement with “our own” philosophical heritage. The basic Chinese word for truth is zhen, which means both true and real, and it bypasses the separation of the two ideas insisted on in much of the Western philosophical tradition. Through wide-ranging research into Daoist ritual, both in history and as it survives in the present day, Andersen shows that the concept of true reality that informs this tradition posits being as a paradox anchored in the inexistent Way (Dao). The preferred way of life suggested by this insight consists in seeking to be an exception to ordinary norms and rules of behavior which nonetheless engages what is common to us all.
Download or read book The Banished Immortal written by Ha Jin and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2019-01-15 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the National Book Award-winning author of Waiting: a narratively driven, deeply human biography of the Tang dynasty poet Li Bai—also known as Li Po In his own time (701–762), Li Bai's poems—shaped by Daoist thought and characterized by their passion, romance, and lust for life—were never given their proper due by the official literary gatekeepers. Nonetheless, his lines rang out on the lips of court entertainers, tavern singers, soldiers, and writers throughout the Tang dynasty, and his deep desire for a higher, more perfect world gave rise to his nickname, the Banished Immortal. Today, Bai's verses are still taught to China's schoolchildren and recited at parties and toasts; they remain an inextricable part of the Chinese language. With the instincts of a master novelist, Ha Jin draws on a wide range of historical and literary sources to weave the great poet's life story. He follows Bai from his origins on the western frontier to his ramblings travels as a young man, which were filled with filled with striving but also with merry abandon, as he raised cups of wine with friends and fellow poets. Ha Jin also takes us through the poet's later years—in which he became swept up in a military rebellion that altered the course of China's history—and the mysterious circumstances of his death, which are surrounded by legend. The Banished Immortal is an extraordinary portrait of a poet who both transcended his time and was shaped by it, and whose ability to live, love, and mourn without reservation produced some of the most enduring verses.
Download or read book Taoism For Dummies written by Jonathan Herman and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-05-30 with total page 391 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The definitive guide to understanding Taoism—no matter your background or faith Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching is the second most translated book in the world, and the practice of religious Taoism is on the rise in China, where adherents currently number in the hundreds of millions. Yet there remains a remarkable lack of reliable information about Taoism for curious westerners. Taoism For Dummies provides comprehensive coverage of Taoism's origins in China's Chou Dynasty, its underlying quietist principles, its emergence as a major religion, various interpretation of its core texts, including both Eastern and Western interpretations, key Taoist concepts, and much more. It also provides a fascinating glimpse of Taoism in contemporary China. The ideal guide for readers interested in this influential religion, as well as those taking an introductory course on Taoism or Chinese Religion A valuable source of insight for those with an interest in modern Chinese culture and beliefs
Download or read book Wandering Spirits written by Richard E. Strassberg and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2008-04-21 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dreams have been taken seriously in China for at least three millennia. Wandering Spirits is a translation and study of the most comprehensive work on dream culture in traditional China—Lofty Principles of Dream Interpretation (Mengzhan yizhi), compiled in 1562 by Chen Shiyuan and periodically reprinted up to the modern era. The best introduction to the diversity of ideas held by the educated class about dreams, this unique treatise compiles various theories, Chen's own comments concerning the nature of dreams and their role in waking life, and almost seven hundred examples assembled from a wide range of literary sources. This annotated translation is accompanied by a full-length introduction that surveys the evolution of Chinese dream culture and the role of Chen Shiyuan and his encyclopedia.
Download or read book Divine Traces of the Daoist Sisterhood written by Du Guangting and published by Three Pine Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Divine Traces of the Daoist Sisterhood presents unique materials on the lives and religious quests of Daoist women in medieval China. Translating and discussing religious women's biographies, the book explores the social context, ideals, and specific techniques of their practice, relating the stories to overall Daoist themes and contemporaneous political events. It elucidates the underlying threads of women's divine careers and brings out both the deep human interest and humor of the stories. Through Suzanne Cahill's efforts, the women of medieval Daoism receive a new and clear voice, to be heard across cultures and millennia.
Download or read book To Live as Long as Heaven and Earth written by Robert Ford Campany and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2002-04-08 with total page 1296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book marks a new milestone in the study of Chinese religious history. Only a scholar as intelligent and dedicated as Campany would dare tackle and so eloquently translate one of the most important and difficult works of early Chinese religious history."—Paul Katz, author of Images of the Immortal: The Cult of Lu Dongbin at the Palace of Eternal Joy "This is a pathbreaking work of lasting significance to the field of Chinese religious history. The scholarship is solid and current, drawing upon the best research from America, Europe, China, and Japan. The translation is accurate, clear, and elegant, based upon an innovative analysis of surviving sources."—Terry Kleeman, author of Great Perfection: Religion and Ethnicity in a Chinese Millennial Kingdom "A competent translation of Ge Hong's hagiographies, with close attention paid to sources and editions, would already have constituted a major contribution to the field of Taoist studies. But Campany provides as well a survey of religious practices in Ge Hong's writings and a reading of the hagiographies which enables us to see the social practices that lie behind them. Together, these two works-in-one constitute the best available portrait of religion and society in early fourth-century China."—John Lagerwey, author of Taoist Ritual in Chinese Society and History "Campany's annotated translation of Ge Hong's (283-343) classic, the first in English, admirably captures the book's rich evocation of the religious culture of Southern China in the fourth century. Ge Hong here offers a series of case studies of what he regarded as the historical and exemplary evidence for the existence of immortals. This translation of Traditions of Divine Transcendents conveys a lively and multifaceted vision of the Taoist conception of physical immortality. The book's emphasis on practices related to the cult of the immortals and the hope for transcendence squarely places its subject in the religious life of traditional Chinese society."—Franciscus Verellen, co-editor of The Taoist Canon: A Historical Guide
Download or read book Daoism in Japan written by Jeffrey L. Richey and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-05-01 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Like an ancient river, Daoist traditions introduced from China once flowed powerfully through the Japanese religious landscape, forever altering its topography and ecology. Daoism’s presence in Japan still may be discerned in its abiding influence on astrology, divination, festivals, literature, politics, and popular culture, not to mention Buddhism and Shintō. Despite this legacy, few English-language studies of Daoism’s influence on Japanese religious culture have been published. Daoism in Japan provides an exploration of the particular pathways by which Daoist traditions entered Japan from continental East Asia. After addressing basic issues in both Daoist Studies and the study of Japanese religions, including the problems of defining ‘Daoism’ and ‘Japanese,’ the book looks at the influence of Daoism on ancient, medieval and modern Japan in turn. To do so, the volume is arranged both chronologically and topically, according to the following three broad divisions: "Arrivals" (c. 5th-8th centuries CE), "Assimilations" (794-1868), and "Apparitions" (1600s-present). The book demonstrates how Chinese influence on Japanese religious culture ironically proved to be crucial in establishing traditions that usually are seen as authentically, even quintessentially, Japanese. Touching on multiple facets of Japanese cultural history and religious traditions, this book is a fascinating contribution for students and scholars of Japanese Culture, History and Religions, as well as Daoist Studies.
Download or read book Asceticism in Early Taoist Religion written by Stephen Eskildsen and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 1998-10-01 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using a wide variety of original sources, this book examines how and why early Taoists carried out such ascetic practices as fasting, celibacy, sleep deprivation, and wilderness seclusion.
