Ji Zhang
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824835545
- eISBN:
- 9780824871291
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824835545.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter looks at Ge Hong's doctrine of Xuan Dao in his book Baopuzi, stating that Daoist texts bear similarity to alchemical cycles of transformation to refine essential meanings beneath the ...
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This chapter looks at Ge Hong's doctrine of Xuan Dao in his book Baopuzi, stating that Daoist texts bear similarity to alchemical cycles of transformation to refine essential meanings beneath the surface of textual layers. The chapter classifies Ge Hong's argument into four sections. It begins with the claim that the one and the many is a genealogical unfolding of life from an ancestor to many progeny, followed by the rhapsody of Xuan, which is situated in an astronomical background. The third section on universal Qi argues Daoist cosmogony by explaining that the world containing the myriad things derives from the pregnancy of cosmic life in primordiality. The text finishes with the conclusion that Xuan is the most fundamental reality of all existences.Less
This chapter looks at Ge Hong's doctrine of Xuan Dao in his book Baopuzi, stating that Daoist texts bear similarity to alchemical cycles of transformation to refine essential meanings beneath the surface of textual layers. The chapter classifies Ge Hong's argument into four sections. It begins with the claim that the one and the many is a genealogical unfolding of life from an ancestor to many progeny, followed by the rhapsody of Xuan, which is situated in an astronomical background. The third section on universal Qi argues Daoist cosmogony by explaining that the world containing the myriad things derives from the pregnancy of cosmic life in primordiality. The text finishes with the conclusion that Xuan is the most fundamental reality of all existences.
Ji Zhang
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824835545
- eISBN:
- 9780824871291
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824835545.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter talks about Ge Hong's attempt to systematize the Western Han's beliefs in immortality, to defend them against detractors, and to insist on their core value for his tradition. Ge Hong ...
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This chapter talks about Ge Hong's attempt to systematize the Western Han's beliefs in immortality, to defend them against detractors, and to insist on their core value for his tradition. Ge Hong argues that physical immortality is possible and can be attained through the practice of instrumental alchemy; he builds his ethics and political philosophy on the basis of these beliefs. Ge Hong's doctrine of immortal beings insists, on one hand, that suffering and death can be avoided. On the other hand, it forms an ethical platform upon which he presents his religious ethics by defining what life is and how it ought to be lived. The doctrine of immortal beings professes that by preserving the One, the continuity of ontological life, humans are capable of embarking on the journey of return from the many to the One.Less
This chapter talks about Ge Hong's attempt to systematize the Western Han's beliefs in immortality, to defend them against detractors, and to insist on their core value for his tradition. Ge Hong argues that physical immortality is possible and can be attained through the practice of instrumental alchemy; he builds his ethics and political philosophy on the basis of these beliefs. Ge Hong's doctrine of immortal beings insists, on one hand, that suffering and death can be avoided. On the other hand, it forms an ethical platform upon which he presents his religious ethics by defining what life is and how it ought to be lived. The doctrine of immortal beings professes that by preserving the One, the continuity of ontological life, humans are capable of embarking on the journey of return from the many to the One.
Ji Zhang
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824835545
- eISBN:
- 9780824871291
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824835545.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter examines how the One shapes different progenies of the One, and the One unfolds its essence into the plural existence of the many. This is the first argument concerning Ge Hong's two ...
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This chapter examines how the One shapes different progenies of the One, and the One unfolds its essence into the plural existence of the many. This is the first argument concerning Ge Hong's two eggs theory in the context of various astronomical writings. This cosmogonical answer to the “one and the many” problem basically rejects Plato's doctrine of creation. In particular, Forms cannot be ontological permanents; they can only have relative permanency in the evolving cosmos. Ge Hong's second major argument involves the critical reading of the World Soul. The composite Soul is designed to be a solution to bridge the gap between Being and Becoming. Compared with Ge Hong's method of “two matching talismans,” Plato's natural studies are set within the limits of his idealism.Less
This chapter examines how the One shapes different progenies of the One, and the One unfolds its essence into the plural existence of the many. This is the first argument concerning Ge Hong's two eggs theory in the context of various astronomical writings. This cosmogonical answer to the “one and the many” problem basically rejects Plato's doctrine of creation. In particular, Forms cannot be ontological permanents; they can only have relative permanency in the evolving cosmos. Ge Hong's second major argument involves the critical reading of the World Soul. The composite Soul is designed to be a solution to bridge the gap between Being and Becoming. Compared with Ge Hong's method of “two matching talismans,” Plato's natural studies are set within the limits of his idealism.
Ji Zhang
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824835545
- eISBN:
- 9780824871291
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824835545.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter explores two distinct natural philosophies: Ge Hong's alchemical universe and Plato's geometrical world. It begins with a critique of the “alchemy as chemistry” thesis in Daoist studies, ...
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This chapter explores two distinct natural philosophies: Ge Hong's alchemical universe and Plato's geometrical world. It begins with a critique of the “alchemy as chemistry” thesis in Daoist studies, intending to free alchemy from the need to explain itself by the means of modern science. The chapter then introduces the “alchemy-cosmogony” approach while placing Ge Hong's instrumental studies of minerals in dialogue with Plato's geometrical structures of matter. Despite the fact that neither Daoists nor Platonists would normally venture into the textual tradition of the other, the one and many question has brought them together through the investigation of two overlapping issues: how two distinctive forms of ontology shape two different forms of natural philosophy, and how different ontologies also give rise to different epistemologies.Less
This chapter explores two distinct natural philosophies: Ge Hong's alchemical universe and Plato's geometrical world. It begins with a critique of the “alchemy as chemistry” thesis in Daoist studies, intending to free alchemy from the need to explain itself by the means of modern science. The chapter then introduces the “alchemy-cosmogony” approach while placing Ge Hong's instrumental studies of minerals in dialogue with Plato's geometrical structures of matter. Despite the fact that neither Daoists nor Platonists would normally venture into the textual tradition of the other, the one and many question has brought them together through the investigation of two overlapping issues: how two distinctive forms of ontology shape two different forms of natural philosophy, and how different ontologies also give rise to different epistemologies.
Ji Zhang
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824835545
- eISBN:
- 9780824871291
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824835545.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter turns to Daoist epistemology, specifically, Ge Hong's preservation of the One. Unlike Plato's abstract reasoning, Ge Hong's notion of knowledge is empirical. It neither regards reason as ...
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This chapter turns to Daoist epistemology, specifically, Ge Hong's preservation of the One. Unlike Plato's abstract reasoning, Ge Hong's notion of knowledge is empirical. It neither regards reason as having the monopoly on knowing Dao nor believes objective knowledge is superior to subjective opinion. For Ge Hong, cultivation plays the central role in the activity of preserving truth. His writings reveal two forms of cultivation that he describes seeking a path exactly opposite to the ontological flow of Dao. One is cosmogony, which unfolds from the one to the many in the mode of separation; while the other is soteriology, which returns from the many to the one in the mode of unification.Less
This chapter turns to Daoist epistemology, specifically, Ge Hong's preservation of the One. Unlike Plato's abstract reasoning, Ge Hong's notion of knowledge is empirical. It neither regards reason as having the monopoly on knowing Dao nor believes objective knowledge is superior to subjective opinion. For Ge Hong, cultivation plays the central role in the activity of preserving truth. His writings reveal two forms of cultivation that he describes seeking a path exactly opposite to the ontological flow of Dao. One is cosmogony, which unfolds from the one to the many in the mode of separation; while the other is soteriology, which returns from the many to the one in the mode of unification.
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804751773
- eISBN:
- 9780804767736
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804751773.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
This chapter examines the relation of the Taiqing tradition to the contemporary religious legacies of Jiangnan. It considers the relationship of waidan to the fourth-century legacies of Jiangnan ...
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This chapter examines the relation of the Taiqing tradition to the contemporary religious legacies of Jiangnan. It considers the relationship of waidan to the fourth-century legacies of Jiangnan through the eyes of Ge Hong, who has left a valuable account of those legacies in his Inner Chapters.Less
This chapter examines the relation of the Taiqing tradition to the contemporary religious legacies of Jiangnan. It considers the relationship of waidan to the fourth-century legacies of Jiangnan through the eyes of Ge Hong, who has left a valuable account of those legacies in his Inner Chapters.
Ji Zhang
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824835545
- eISBN:
- 9780824871291
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824835545.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter discusses how the “one and the many” problem is ontological, and that any presupposed ontological reality must answer the question of how the changing world either rises out of or hinges ...
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This chapter discusses how the “one and the many” problem is ontological, and that any presupposed ontological reality must answer the question of how the changing world either rises out of or hinges upon the irreducible. Both Ge Hong and Plato arrived at an irreconcilable propositional difference: Plato's “being without not-being” defined by logical exclusion of the two, and Ge Hong's “not-being with being” articulated in terms of the relational inclusion of both. Comparative ontology takes Plato's “being without not-being” and Ge Hong's “not-being with being” as two propositions for a dialogue. Though the dialogue operates at an abstract level and uses language closer to modern philosophy than to that of classic Daoism, the basic issues are only two. One is to address the relationship between being and not-being; while the other is the implication for cosmogony.Less
This chapter discusses how the “one and the many” problem is ontological, and that any presupposed ontological reality must answer the question of how the changing world either rises out of or hinges upon the irreducible. Both Ge Hong and Plato arrived at an irreconcilable propositional difference: Plato's “being without not-being” defined by logical exclusion of the two, and Ge Hong's “not-being with being” articulated in terms of the relational inclusion of both. Comparative ontology takes Plato's “being without not-being” and Ge Hong's “not-being with being” as two propositions for a dialogue. Though the dialogue operates at an abstract level and uses language closer to modern philosophy than to that of classic Daoism, the basic issues are only two. One is to address the relationship between being and not-being; while the other is the implication for cosmogony.
Ji Zhang
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824835545
- eISBN:
- 9780824871291
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824835545.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This concluding chapter discusses the significance of comparative methodology. The discourse of the comparative study has two phases. It begins with the phase of contrasting and arrives at a deep ...
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This concluding chapter discusses the significance of comparative methodology. The discourse of the comparative study has two phases. It begins with the phase of contrasting and arrives at a deep respect for the irreducible differences between traditions. Then it follows the phase of comparison that involves comparing the contrasts. The second main feature of the method is the unusual starting point. Comparison does not have to start from categorical similarities; knowing the contrary provides a beginning for comparison. For instance, alchemy and geometry can be compared as long as they are understood within the contexts of Ge Hong's cosmogony and Plato's theogony. On the acceptance of difference, one can recognize the shared quest to name the origin of the world.Less
This concluding chapter discusses the significance of comparative methodology. The discourse of the comparative study has two phases. It begins with the phase of contrasting and arrives at a deep respect for the irreducible differences between traditions. Then it follows the phase of comparison that involves comparing the contrasts. The second main feature of the method is the unusual starting point. Comparison does not have to start from categorical similarities; knowing the contrary provides a beginning for comparison. For instance, alchemy and geometry can be compared as long as they are understood within the contexts of Ge Hong's cosmogony and Plato's theogony. On the acceptance of difference, one can recognize the shared quest to name the origin of the world.
Ji Zhang
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824835545
- eISBN:
- 9780824871291
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824835545.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
Is the world one or many? This book revisits this ancient philosophical question from the modern perspective of comparative studies. The investigation stages an intellectual exchange between Plato, ...
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Is the world one or many? This book revisits this ancient philosophical question from the modern perspective of comparative studies. The investigation stages an intellectual exchange between Plato, founder of the Academy, and Ge Hong, who systematized Daoist belief and praxis. The book not only captures the tension between rational Platonism and abstruse Daoism, but also creates a bridge between the two. The book is a unique study of Daoism and Platonism, avoiding the common assumptions of either interpreting Daoism through the western perspective or favoring rational cognitive thought over empirical instrument studies.Less
Is the world one or many? This book revisits this ancient philosophical question from the modern perspective of comparative studies. The investigation stages an intellectual exchange between Plato, founder of the Academy, and Ge Hong, who systematized Daoist belief and praxis. The book not only captures the tension between rational Platonism and abstruse Daoism, but also creates a bridge between the two. The book is a unique study of Daoism and Platonism, avoiding the common assumptions of either interpreting Daoism through the western perspective or favoring rational cognitive thought over empirical instrument studies.
Robert Ford Campany
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824833336
- eISBN:
- 9780824870218
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824833336.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter presents a story in Ge Hong’s Traditions of Divine Transcendents about Han Emperor Wu’s encounter with an adept, described as a mysterious old man. During their meeting, the old man told ...
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This chapter presents a story in Ge Hong’s Traditions of Divine Transcendents about Han Emperor Wu’s encounter with an adept, described as a mysterious old man. During their meeting, the old man told his story about his initial condition of decrepitude and near-mortality, discussed his all-important encounter with a teacher of life-prolonging arts, adumbrated the methods vouchsafed, and announced the results gained by their practice. The story’s overall structure exemplified a pattern of action or a cultural schema that was commonly deployed in early medieval texts describing how a person came to receive esoteric arts. Moreover, the passage emphasized the adept’s body: its imperfections, its signs of radiant health, and its degree of vigor and special capacities.Less
This chapter presents a story in Ge Hong’s Traditions of Divine Transcendents about Han Emperor Wu’s encounter with an adept, described as a mysterious old man. During their meeting, the old man told his story about his initial condition of decrepitude and near-mortality, discussed his all-important encounter with a teacher of life-prolonging arts, adumbrated the methods vouchsafed, and announced the results gained by their practice. The story’s overall structure exemplified a pattern of action or a cultural schema that was commonly deployed in early medieval texts describing how a person came to receive esoteric arts. Moreover, the passage emphasized the adept’s body: its imperfections, its signs of radiant health, and its degree of vigor and special capacities.
Ji Zhang
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824835545
- eISBN:
- 9780824871291
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824835545.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter initially looks at various passages mainly in the Republic to understand the theory of Forms that defined ontology in degrees, with an intent to identify the antithesis of transcendence ...
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This chapter initially looks at various passages mainly in the Republic to understand the theory of Forms that defined ontology in degrees, with an intent to identify the antithesis of transcendence and immanence. The second part of the chapter follows Plato's intellectual ladder and determines the idea of the Good. It represents the ontological cause of Forms and the epistemological state of enlightenment. However, the Good in itself is also the one and the many problem. The problem seems to be an epistemological difficulty in having a knowledge path between the mind and Forms. The content of Platonic Good is the timeless order of republican society ruled by philosopher-kings; whereas for Ge Hong, the longevity of a person and a dynasty are akin to be in accordance with the Dao.Less
This chapter initially looks at various passages mainly in the Republic to understand the theory of Forms that defined ontology in degrees, with an intent to identify the antithesis of transcendence and immanence. The second part of the chapter follows Plato's intellectual ladder and determines the idea of the Good. It represents the ontological cause of Forms and the epistemological state of enlightenment. However, the Good in itself is also the one and the many problem. The problem seems to be an epistemological difficulty in having a knowledge path between the mind and Forms. The content of Platonic Good is the timeless order of republican society ruled by philosopher-kings; whereas for Ge Hong, the longevity of a person and a dynasty are akin to be in accordance with the Dao.
Robert Ford Campany
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824833336
- eISBN:
- 9780824870218
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824833336.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter considers the passage in Ge Hong’s Traditions of Divine Transcendents, which narrates how the pill, “efflorescence of vermilion” had granted an adept named Ling Shouguang two hundred ...
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This chapter considers the passage in Ge Hong’s Traditions of Divine Transcendents, which narrates how the pill, “efflorescence of vermilion” had granted an adept named Ling Shouguang two hundred years of life without any diseases, as well as resurrection after death. Over a hundred days after Ling Shouguang’s funeral and burial, his coffin was dug out and found empty except for an old shoe. The concept of the empty coffin with an old shoe points to an esoteric technique, known as shijie or “escape by means of a simulated corpse.” The adept eluded the spirits who enforced lifespan limits, in order to live past his destined time of death.Less
This chapter considers the passage in Ge Hong’s Traditions of Divine Transcendents, which narrates how the pill, “efflorescence of vermilion” had granted an adept named Ling Shouguang two hundred years of life without any diseases, as well as resurrection after death. Over a hundred days after Ling Shouguang’s funeral and burial, his coffin was dug out and found empty except for an old shoe. The concept of the empty coffin with an old shoe points to an esoteric technique, known as shijie or “escape by means of a simulated corpse.” The adept eluded the spirits who enforced lifespan limits, in order to live past his destined time of death.
