Daoism

http://www.press.ntu.edu.tw/index.php?act=book&refer=ntup_book00969

莊子的思想不僅在古代已經很當代，在當代也依然很當代。為什麼當今的莊子研究展現出罕見的跨文化潛力？為什麼莊子可以成為當代歐洲哲學與當代漢語哲學之間的一條通道？為什麼跨文化莊子研究深受法語莊子研究的啟發，但卻必須有賴臺灣的特殊文化歷史處境才得以逐漸發揮出乎預料的當代性？為什麼《莊子》與當代民主政治所面臨的問題能產生難以言喻的呼應關係？為什麼《莊子》有助於進入跨文化的互相學習、互相批判、互相轉化的動態過程？究竟，為什麼是《莊子》？這些是此本論文集從不同角度所思考的問題。至於為什麼莊子會在眾多中土哲人中脫穎而出，讀者只要稍加翻閱本書所收文章，即不難發現其中的線索：莊子提供了一種新的主體範式。

Addendum: Footnote 24 on page 590 should be to pages 88-89 of the following:

Martin Heidegger. Bremen and Freiburg Lectures: Insight into That Which Is and Basic Principles of Thinking. Translated by Andrew Mitchell. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2012.

In this paper I examine how the Daodejing resonates with feminist epistemology. Recognizing the utter undifferentiation from which the world is born and the ineffability of the Dao threatens epistemic relativism. This threat of relativism is similar to that generated by feminist analyses of social-locatedness. Harding's solution of " hard objectivity, " in particular, allows for some interesting parallels.

Poceski, Mario. Introducing Chinese Religions. New York and London: Routledge, 2009. Also available in an e-book format, as Chinese Religions: The eBook (published by JBE Online Books), and in a Portuguese translation: Introdução às religiões chinesas, published by Fundação Editora da UNESP, Brazil, 2013.

The dissertation focuses on the texts of a religious movement known as Tianshidao (the Way of the Celestial Masters) from the 2nd to the 5th century CE. Tianshidao is presented as a multifaceted tradition that should not be reduced by a predefined essence or a teleological vision of history. Instead of reconstructing one coherent cosmology, the author interprets the texts as representing various alternative cosmologies. They are compared according to the theory of cultural bias of Mary Douglas, in terms of grid and group. Special attention is paid to the employment of the bureaucratic imagery and the representations of time which are interpreted in the context of the cultural bias and the various modes of relationship towards the institutions of Tianshidao and the state. The author also analyses the millennialist character of the movement which was noted by previous research and distinguishes between various types of millennialism.

The article discusses uses of xiu shen, one among a number of terms referring to practices of moral and mental discipline in early China. It sketches out the contexts and discourses in which the term appears and hopes thus to contribute, albeit in a limited way, to eventual broader assessments of the role which different concepts, ideals, and practices of self-discipline played in political and social thought.

We have been lied to about what real Pythagorean harmonics alchemy is. The lie started with Philolaus who wrote a book, even though he was not a real practitioner of the Pythagorean training, requiring five years of silence meditation as incubation. The lies in this book were then spread by Plato and Archytas and powerful lies they were! They created Western civilization which has enabled very fancy materialistic technology, at great expense to ecology and social justice around the world. Aristotle critiqued the lies spread by Plato but Aristotle did not know the real truth of Pythagorean philosophy. By then, as Dr. Peter Kingsley has pointed out, it was too late.

In fact the secret of Pythagorean alchemy was known in ancient Egypt since 2/3 was the sacred fraction there, as well as in ancient Sumeria and ancient Dravidian culture and ancient Chinese culture – going back to the original human culture, the San Bushmen from at least 70,000 years ago! Just as Pythagoras means "snake-master" so too did the San Bushmen teach that N/om as snake energy is sacred and the ancient Greeks knew this was the reproductive life force energy that is ionized into the cerebrospinal fluid. For example ejaculation is mainly lecithin and lecithin is what myelinates the neurons so that more electromagnetic charge can be stored up in the body.

And so the One was also known as the Counter-Fire that exists in the Underworld and as the pan pipes blow this creates the One as the Fire and light of the Universe. So the Pan Pipes were the original Harmonia "breathing" that feeds the spirit light energy. Or in other words the secret, as Empedocles taught, is to visualize the fire underneath the water in the body – to reverse the Tetraktys based on the complementary opposites of the Perfect Fifth and Perfect Fourth – so that more Air or Aion energy (ionized Snake kundalini) energy is created, called Qi or Prana by the ancients in China and India.

This study surveys the introduction of astrology into East Asia with a primary focus on the Buddhist experience of Indian and Iranian astrology during the eighth and ninth centuries. It is argued that prior to the introduction of Esoteric Buddhism during the 8th century, the Chinese sangha had no pressing need to observe astrology. However, following the rising popularity of Tantric rituals, which require proper timing according to non-Chinese astrological conventions, Chinese Buddhism took a deep interest in astrology. This in turn prompted a wider interest in astrology among Chinese elites, encouraging the translation of more foreign works on astrology, even outside of a Buddhist context. It is shown that around the year 800 there was a shift from Indian to Iranian sources of astrology, most likely as a result of ethnic Iranians working at court. Iranian astrology, which included a rich system of horoscopy rooted in the earlier Hellenistic tradition, prompted a booming popular interest in astrology. Buddhists subsequently took up practice of horoscopy for themselves. Chinese Buddhist astrology was then exported to neighboring countries, most notably Japan where it influenced medieval religious and court cultures.

In her review of my book, Weili Zhao sheds a new light on what it means to study like a communist, particularly by focusing on the concept of the encounter and the dao movement. In this response, I build on her insights by proposing that the binary and the planar be heterogeneously blocked together. Rather than critical pedagogy, critical education , liberal education, and postmodern education, we need to see pedagogy and politics as hanging together in a confrontational negotiation.

Золотые книги и нефритовые письмена: даосские письменные памятники III—VI вв. / Сергей Владимирович Филонов ; Амур. гос. ун-т, Центр синологических исследований. — Санкт-Петербург: Петербургское Востоковедение, 2011. — 654, [2] с.: ил., рис., табл.

Das Seminar zur Ästhetik im Laozi werde ich zusammen mit Prof. Dr. Fabian Heubel (Research Fellow am Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy, Academia Sinica in Taipei) veranstalten. Das klassische daoistische Buch Laozi (Laotse), auch Daodejing (Tao Te King) genannt, ist einer der Grundtexte chinesischer Philosophie. Seine Bedeutung wird durch die Vielzahl von Übersetzungen in westliche Sprachen unterstrichen. In diesem Seminar werden ausgewählte Kapitel des Buches gemeinsam gelesen und auf ihre ästhetische Bedeutung hin befragt. Motive wie „Weg“ (dao), „Ohne-Tun“ (wuwei), „Fadheit“ (dan) und „Weichheit/Härte“ werden dabei im Mittelpunkt stehen.

Bei der Textlektüre werden drei Aspekte besonders berücksichtigt: 1. Der Vergleich verschiedener Übersetzungen, um verschiedene Interpretationsmöglichkeiten zu erkunden; 2. Lektüre ausgewählter chinesischer Kommentare in Übersetzung, die einen Eindruck davon vermitteln können, wie der Text in China gelesen und gedeutet worden ist; 3. transkulturelle Korrespondenzen, in denen es um Möglichkeiten geht, den Text im Horizont der Gegenwartsphilosophie neu zu lesen.

Kenntnisse der chinesischen Sprache werden nicht vorausgesetzt.

Resumo: No presente artigo, buscaremos analisar como o Daoís-mo foi apresentado ao público brasileiro a partir de leituras feitas no f inal do século XIX, que af irmavam que os ensinamen-tos do sábio Laozi (séc. VI AEC) formavam a "Seita da Razão ". To-mando por base algumas das primeiras obras sobre a China es-crita por brasileiros-Trabalhadores Asiáticos, de Salvador Men-donça (1879) e A China e os chins, de Henrique Lisboa (1888)-, faremos uma análise comparativa e sistêmica para rastrear as origens dessas ideias, e veremos como tais concepções foram fortemente influenciadas pelo Orientalismo, como foi analisado por Said (1998) e Maff ra e Stallaer t (2016). Por f im, observaremos seus desdobramentos no imaginário brasileiro sobre o pen-samento chinês clássico. Palavras-chave: Sinologia. Daoísmo. Orientalismo.

During the twentieth century the views on the historical identity of Laozi and on the appearance and interpretation of Dao De Jing became increasingly diverse. In this article I first briefly introduce traditional and modified-traditional views on Laozi and Dao De Jing. Then I deal more thoroughly with the genesis of Daoism according to Russell Kirkland. In his book Taoism: The Enduring Tradition (2004) this American scholar presents in a synthetic way results of many specialized studies, applying the historical-critical method known, e.g. from the biblical hermeneutics. Kirkland defends, among other things, the following four theses: (1) Laozi is a fictitious person, (2) Dao De Jing is the result of a complex editorial process, (3) Dao De Jing is a bundle of proverbs, not the work of a unified vision, (4) Daoism as an identifiable movement emerged only in the 5th century AD. In spite of reservations expressed in my paper toward Kirkland's theses, it is necessary to consider his book as a substantially important challenge for all Daoist scholars.

Sergey Filonov. “Henri Maspero and European Taoist Studies: concluding article,” in: Sergej Pakhomov (ed.), Maspero, Henry. Taoism. Transl. from French (St. Petersburg : Science Press, 2007), pp. 278—292. ISBN 978-5-02-026924-8. (In Russian).
Филонов С.В. Анри Масперо и европейская даология: размышления на полях книги «Даосизм» // Масперо А. Даосизм / Пер. с франц. В.Ю. Быстрова; Под ред. С.В. Пахомова; Заключит. статья С.В. Филонова. — СПб.: Наука, 2007. — С. 278—292.

This paper presents the main aspects of the proto-Wenzi’s philosophy, with a focus on its intricate relationship with the Laozi. They show that the proto- Wenzi advocates a philosophy of quietude, not only in terms of its content, but also through the rhetoric it uses to create a harmonious synthesis of diverse, and at times even incompatible, ideas.

This paper engages the Analects from multiple perspectives. The Deleuzean read reveals its function as a cogwheel in the feudal social machine serving the purpose of overcoding. The Flusserian read brings into relief a meta-program that works to perpetuate the feudal social order, and a functionalism that has been revived in the post-historical era. From an interological perspective, Confucian ritual formalizes and normalizes interality. In terms of rhetorical and performance studies, the Analects has the gentleman as its second persona, inculcates a role aesthetics, and models a sense of decorum. From a Daoist viewpoint, the Analects contains an autobiography that documents Confucius's personal development as a spiritual adventurer and his becoming-Daoist later in life. From a Chan perspective, Confucius was a virtuosic performer of upaya, and the Analects feels like a precursor of the mondo or question-and-answer books that flourished in the Chan community in later historical periods. Moreover, a Chan-minded heterodox hermeneutics regarding the Analects has taken shape over time. The paper ends by pointing to Ouyi's Chan-spirited reinterpretation of the Analects as an exciting project to take on. Although the Buddha expounded the Dharma in a single voice, each of all living beings attained understanding according to its kind.-JIANG Qian 江 谦 (translated by Richard John Lynn) A Taoist hat, Confucian shoes, and a Buddhist robe combine the three houses into one. (Hori, 2003, p. 555) Three men gathered around a vat of vinegar. Each dipped a digit in and then touched it to his tongue. To Confucius, the taste was sour; to Gautama Buddha, the taste was bitter; to Laozi, the taste was sweet. All three different; all three one. This exploration approaches the Analects of Confucius with a nomadic sensibility. "Nomadic" invokes multiple strands of philosophical currents, including the treatise on nomadology developed by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari in A Thousand Plateaus, the species of nomad thought Deleuze perceives in Friedrich Nietzsche, the kind of nomadism Vilém Flusser associates with post-history in The Freedom of the Migrant, the emerging philosophical paradigm that has coalesced around the term "interology," and Daoism and Chan Buddhism, which have had a long history of co-evolution, rivalry, complementarity,

This article demonstrates the central position that Daoists occupied in the representations of state power in north China under Mongol rule. In the mid-thirteenth century, Daoist Master Jiang Shanxin and his disciples, under Khubilai Khan’s patronage, actively rebuilt several temples of Confucian sage-kings in southern Shanxi province. Jiang Shanxin’s lineage was a product of dynamic interactions between the Mongol conquerors and local Chinese Daoists in which the two found common ground in sage-kings worship that had served to strengthen imperial legitimacy in previous dynasties. The strong Mongol-Daoist alliance in reordering the empire’s ritual space resulted in not just the revival of but also the creation of new ritual precedents for the Chinese imperial cult of sage-kings.

Sergey Filonov. “Early Taoism: Looking for methodological integrity,” in: Religiovedenie (Study of Religion), No. 3 (2009), pp. 56—69. ISSN 2072-8662. (In Russian).
Филонов С.В. Ранний даосизм: поиск методологической целостности // Религиоведение. — 2009. — № 3. — С. 56—69. ISSN 2072-8662.

Sergey Filonov. The early stage of the formation of Taoist religious tradition: case study of the history of compilation of Taoist Canon. Synopsis for the Ph.D. thesis / Saint Petersburg State University. St. Petersburg, 2000. 
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Филонов С.В. Ранний этап формирования религиозной традиции даосизма. Автореферат диссертации… кандидата философских наук по специальности 09.00.06 «Философия религии» / Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет. — СПб., 2000.

The Daoist classic Zhuangzi teaches not a single doctrine, but a method to approach all doctrines and situations by shifting perspectives and adapting our courses of action. This foundational work of Chinese philosophy, full of witty and irreverent humor, language games, extravagant characters, parables, and argumentative essays, will not leave you unchanged!
The limits of knowledge, the efficacy of action, death and happiness, change and transformations, friendship and humor, perspectivism and skepticism, playfulness and freedom, emptiness and the dao. The Zhuangzi is about living, thinking, knowing, acting, feeling, loving, changing, and dying well in a messy world.
This class follows the format of a graduate seminar. We read the text prior to class in an active, critical, and reflective manner (i.e. taking notes, asking questions, identifying themes and arguments, searching relevant concepts, acknowledging the literary form and style, finding secondary sources for further explanation, coming up with our own readings and interpretations, etc.). In class, we read line by line together and discuss until we are ready to move on to the next chapter. Readings will be provided in English, and no prior knowledge of Chinese is required.

This article juxtaposes the notion of wuwei in Daoism and philosophical principles of self-organization in systems theory to re-imagine classroom dynamics in which pedagogical relationships, students’ interactions with texts, and peer interplay come together to enable an open system of education, learning, and growth. Wuwei is a way of governing and leadership, while self-organization is the emergence of new structures at the global level as a result of local interactions. The combination of topdown and bottom-up processes contributes to create a dynamic classroom. The contemporary Neo-Daoists’ concerns with creating conditions for wuwei to happen can be addressed by principles of self-organization, while wuwei provides a philosophical underpinning that is informative to systems theories. This article first introduces the Daoist notion of wuwei, then articulate important principles of self-organization theory, and further juxtapose the two in both resonance and dissonance in four aspects: the role of change, the role of diversity, the role of the individual person, and the role of the teacher’s wuwei leadership in the selforganizing classroom. In the last section, the article discusses how to shift classroom dynamics toward emergent, relational, and creative pathways, including creating conditions for self-organization and wuwei to happen in the classroom.

This paper will use the concept of hyperreality to compare the so-called ideal state described by ancient Chinese philosopher Laozi with the world of The Truman Show. The concept of hyperreality is defined by Jean Baudrillard as the generation by models of a real without origin or reality. A hyperreal world is a simulation, or kind of a copy without its original. It is generally accepted, and confirmed by Baudrillard himself, that the world of The Truman Show is hyperreal. In order to compare Laozi’s ideal state with the world of the film, this paper will give a hyperrealist interpretation of the former, which will be only hypothetical, without intending to substitute any other existing interpretations. Laozi imagines that people live simple lives, with few desires and without traveling to other places. If we accept that the ideal state is a hyperreal world, we can make comparison between the two worlds; find out their similarities, as well as differences.

Read at: https://www.scirp.org/Journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=92329

While philosophy and religion were never sharply distinguished in China, what we now call Chinese philosophy incorporated, theorized, and sometimes opposed practices and views that can reasonably be called religious. These included questions about cosmogony, the problem of evil, and the relationship between human beings and the divine. Philosophers were also concerned with common aspects of religion that are now often neglected in philosophy, such as ritual and divination. Finally, the disagreements between different ways and different philosophies led to reflection on pluralism and its value. All of these fit generally into the category of philosophy of religion.

This set of four articles, focusing on cases in Hong Kong, offer rich materials for studying the evolution of ritual practices in Chinese religion, within a local social context. Scholarship on Daoism and Chinese religion has identified a number of broad categories of religious specialist and organization: the non-monastic “householder priests” 活居道士 typically of the Zhengyi 正一 order, and other, “vernacular” ritual masters; the monastic Daoist monks of the Quanzhen 全真 order; lay spirit-writing groups often called “phoenix halls” 鸞堂; salvationist movements and redemptive societies, and so on. Each of these represents a specific type of religious lineage and organization, and of relationship between religious professionals and lay clients and practitioners. But these categorizations are merely convenient abstractions: as these four articles show, the boundaries between them are blurred, negotiated, and evolving. Over time, a single group may evolve from one type to another, or one type of group may replace another as the dominant provider of a specific set of local rituals. The content and significance of rituals also evolves within a shifting ecology of religious providers, community organizations, socio-political contexts and spacial transformations.

This essay investigates three transmissions of esoteric movement from the perspective that the religious, theatrical, and martial arts of China are a single subject. This is a comparative and speculative exploration of personal practice contextualized by current scholarship. The practices we examine are healing exercises (daoyin) as taught by American Daoist and Buddhist initiate Liu Ming (1947-- 2015), those taught by American martial arts and yoga teacher Paulie Zink (b. 1954), as well as Himalayan Rigdzin Trulkhor transmitted by the Tibetan Buddhist sage Jigmé Lingpa (1729-1798) in the 18th century. We selected these practices for both systemic and phenomenological reasons: they have strong structural similarities, they treat the body in correlate ways and their effects on the practitioner are similar.

The Daoist Zhuangzi argues against a Confucian conception of “normality” that, like Aristotelianism, is teleological: A higher power, Heaven, decrees what “human nature” is, and human nature determines all the normative facts, such as how many limbs a human should have, standards of physical beauty, tastes in food and music, and morality. This view implies that to be “different” is to be defective. However, Zhuangzi pushed back against the idea that “normal” is good and difference is bad, including when it comes to what we would call "disabilities" today.