Gary Delany DeAngelis and Warren G. Frisina (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195332704
- eISBN:
- 9780199868155
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195332704.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Teaching the Daode Jing (DDJ) was written for non‐specialist faculty who are including the DDJ in a widening group of courses in Asian studies, religion, philosophy, history, humanities ...
More
Teaching the Daode Jing (DDJ) was written for non‐specialist faculty who are including the DDJ in a widening group of courses in Asian studies, religion, philosophy, history, humanities and political science. It provides up‐to‐date information on contemporary scholarship and detailed discussion of classroom strategies that have been successfully employed in a variety of teaching environments. Contributors include well‐known scholars of Daoism such as Livia Kohn, Norman Girardot, Robert Henricks, Russell Kirkland, Hans‐Georg Moeller and Michael LaFargue. In addition, there are essays by Eva Wong (Daoist practitioner), David Hall (philosophy), Gary DeAngelis (mysticism), and a jointly written essay on pedagogical strategies by Judith Berling, Geoffrey Foy, and John Thompson (Chinese religion). Their essays address questions such as: Should we capitalize on popular interest in the DDJ in our classrooms? Which, among the many translations and scholarly approaches ought we to use? Is it appropriate to think of the DDJ as a religious text at all? There are several times in many of the essays where the attention to concrete classroom practice is brought clearly into focus. Thus, readers will find several specific tips that can be used in their own classrooms.Less
Teaching the Daode Jing (DDJ) was written for non‐specialist faculty who are including the DDJ in a widening group of courses in Asian studies, religion, philosophy, history, humanities and political science. It provides up‐to‐date information on contemporary scholarship and detailed discussion of classroom strategies that have been successfully employed in a variety of teaching environments. Contributors include well‐known scholars of Daoism such as Livia Kohn, Norman Girardot, Robert Henricks, Russell Kirkland, Hans‐Georg Moeller and Michael LaFargue. In addition, there are essays by Eva Wong (Daoist practitioner), David Hall (philosophy), Gary DeAngelis (mysticism), and a jointly written essay on pedagogical strategies by Judith Berling, Geoffrey Foy, and John Thompson (Chinese religion). Their essays address questions such as: Should we capitalize on popular interest in the DDJ in our classrooms? Which, among the many translations and scholarly approaches ought we to use? Is it appropriate to think of the DDJ as a religious text at all? There are several times in many of the essays where the attention to concrete classroom practice is brought clearly into focus. Thus, readers will find several specific tips that can be used in their own classrooms.
Marjorie Topley
Jean DeBernardi (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789888028146
- eISBN:
- 9789882206663
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888028146.003.0006
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This chapter presents ceremonies which took place in a Dying House. The total cost of the marriage was approximately $200 Straits and a priest was engaged to see to the necessary arrangements. He was ...
More
This chapter presents ceremonies which took place in a Dying House. The total cost of the marriage was approximately $200 Straits and a priest was engaged to see to the necessary arrangements. He was one of a small group of professionals belonging to a Cantonese branch of the Cheng I [Zhengyi] school of Taoism who earn their living in Singapore by performing at funeral ceremonies and at Cantonese occasional rites. The priest arranged for the “wedding” ceremony to be held in the temple, hired a room at the Dying House, bought or made all the necessary paraphernalia and together with his troupe of colleagues and disciples performed all the appropriate ceremonies. According to the Taoist priest in charge of the day's activities, Cantonese ghost marriages are still by no means rare in Singapore and he has been engaged to perform them by people, mainly women, of various occupations and income.Less
This chapter presents ceremonies which took place in a Dying House. The total cost of the marriage was approximately $200 Straits and a priest was engaged to see to the necessary arrangements. He was one of a small group of professionals belonging to a Cantonese branch of the Cheng I [Zhengyi] school of Taoism who earn their living in Singapore by performing at funeral ceremonies and at Cantonese occasional rites. The priest arranged for the “wedding” ceremony to be held in the temple, hired a room at the Dying House, bought or made all the necessary paraphernalia and together with his troupe of colleagues and disciples performed all the appropriate ceremonies. According to the Taoist priest in charge of the day's activities, Cantonese ghost marriages are still by no means rare in Singapore and he has been engaged to perform them by people, mainly women, of various occupations and income.
Gary D. DeAngelis, Warren G. Frisina, and Russell Kirkland
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195332704
- eISBN:
- 9780199868155
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195332704.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
In this “contrarian” approach to reading he DDJ, Russell Kirkland argues that most textbooks do a credible job of presenting the DDJ as it has been inherited through both Confucian and Western ...
More
In this “contrarian” approach to reading he DDJ, Russell Kirkland argues that most textbooks do a credible job of presenting the DDJ as it has been inherited through both Confucian and Western conceptual lenses, but that such a view fails to see the Daoist as they saw themselves. He challenges students to “ponder the alienity of ancient China” before making assumptions about what the text is trying to accomplish. By focusing their attention on early Daoist religious practices, and the status of the DDJ as a Daoist scripture, Kirkland aims to cultivate in his students an appreciation for both the originary aims of the text and the way hermeneutical models are developed, challenged and clarified.Less
In this “contrarian” approach to reading he DDJ, Russell Kirkland argues that most textbooks do a credible job of presenting the DDJ as it has been inherited through both Confucian and Western conceptual lenses, but that such a view fails to see the Daoist as they saw themselves. He challenges students to “ponder the alienity of ancient China” before making assumptions about what the text is trying to accomplish. By focusing their attention on early Daoist religious practices, and the status of the DDJ as a Daoist scripture, Kirkland aims to cultivate in his students an appreciation for both the originary aims of the text and the way hermeneutical models are developed, challenged and clarified.
Gary D. DeAngelis, Warren G. Frisina, and Michael LaFargue
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195332704
- eISBN:
- 9780199868155
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195332704.003.0013
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Michael LaFargue aims to cultivate in students a capacity to see the DDJ from the point of view of its many literary forms and implied interlocutors. By exploring the structures of proverbial sayings ...
More
Michael LaFargue aims to cultivate in students a capacity to see the DDJ from the point of view of its many literary forms and implied interlocutors. By exploring the structures of proverbial sayings he leads students away from the tendency to take its statements too literally, a tendency that typically makes the DDJ seem more obscure and mysterious than it is. LaFargue encourages students to ask: What “pragmatic implications” of the DDJ's statements can we reasonably attribute to the early Daoist practitioners who both produced and made use of this text? This leads to a historicist understanding of the DDJ that is rooted in questions quite different from those that a contemporary western reader would typically bring to the text.Less
Michael LaFargue aims to cultivate in students a capacity to see the DDJ from the point of view of its many literary forms and implied interlocutors. By exploring the structures of proverbial sayings he leads students away from the tendency to take its statements too literally, a tendency that typically makes the DDJ seem more obscure and mysterious than it is. LaFargue encourages students to ask: What “pragmatic implications” of the DDJ's statements can we reasonably attribute to the early Daoist practitioners who both produced and made use of this text? This leads to a historicist understanding of the DDJ that is rooted in questions quite different from those that a contemporary western reader would typically bring to the text.
Gary D. DeAngelis, Warren G. Frisina, and Harold D. Roth
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195332704
- eISBN:
- 9780199868155
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195332704.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Eschewing both the uncritical faith stance of Daoism's apologists as well as the reductionist tendencies among some contemporary secularists, Harold D. Roth preaches a middle path when it comes to ...
More
Eschewing both the uncritical faith stance of Daoism's apologists as well as the reductionist tendencies among some contemporary secularists, Harold D. Roth preaches a middle path when it comes to analyzing and teaching the Daode jing. Since the Daode jing draws from a meditative tradition that utilizes breath control he suggests our teaching include a mix of both third‐person analysis (where we rely on the traditional tools of scholarship such as historical‐textual research, hermeneutical analysis, and contemporary philosophic reflection) and first‐person analysis (where we encourage our students to engage in simple meditation and breathing exercises that are tied to specific chapters and that add an experiential dimension to their study). He suggests this combination as a way of both discharging our scholarly responsibilities while demonstrating a healthy respect for the integrity and coherence of this ancient text.Less
Eschewing both the uncritical faith stance of Daoism's apologists as well as the reductionist tendencies among some contemporary secularists, Harold D. Roth preaches a middle path when it comes to analyzing and teaching the Daode jing. Since the Daode jing draws from a meditative tradition that utilizes breath control he suggests our teaching include a mix of both third‐person analysis (where we rely on the traditional tools of scholarship such as historical‐textual research, hermeneutical analysis, and contemporary philosophic reflection) and first‐person analysis (where we encourage our students to engage in simple meditation and breathing exercises that are tied to specific chapters and that add an experiential dimension to their study). He suggests this combination as a way of both discharging our scholarly responsibilities while demonstrating a healthy respect for the integrity and coherence of this ancient text.
Gary D. DeAngelis, Warren G. Frisina, and Robert G. Henricks
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195332704
- eISBN:
- 9780199868155
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195332704.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
For many years Robert Henricks has used the image of an untended field to help his students understand what the DDJ means by the Dao. Henrick's field is not a farmer's field but rather a natural ...
More
For many years Robert Henricks has used the image of an untended field to help his students understand what the DDJ means by the Dao. Henrick's field is not a farmer's field but rather a natural field that is “barren and deserted in the winter but filled with a host of different wildflowers throughout the spring and summer.” This analogy leads naturally into discussion of such central Daoist themes as: the Dao's rhythmic cycles from tranquility to activity and back; the need to remain “rooted” in the Dao; the true nature of morality; and what the DDJ might mean by immortality.Less
For many years Robert Henricks has used the image of an untended field to help his students understand what the DDJ means by the Dao. Henrick's field is not a farmer's field but rather a natural field that is “barren and deserted in the winter but filled with a host of different wildflowers throughout the spring and summer.” This analogy leads naturally into discussion of such central Daoist themes as: the Dao's rhythmic cycles from tranquility to activity and back; the need to remain “rooted” in the Dao; the true nature of morality; and what the DDJ might mean by immortality.
Gary D. DeAngelis, Warren G. Frisina, and David L. Hall
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195332704
- eISBN:
- 9780199868155
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195332704.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This essay discusses the way the DDJ contradicts or even subverts many Western philosophic and religious assumptions about ontology, cosmology and the self. Where many Western philosophers describe ...
More
This essay discusses the way the DDJ contradicts or even subverts many Western philosophic and religious assumptions about ontology, cosmology and the self. Where many Western philosophers describe being as “a common property or a relational structure” the DDJ seems not to posit any such “superordinate One to which the Many reduce.” Similarly, where many Western thinkers portray the self as a collection of competing and sometimes conflicting faculties (e.g. reason, appetite and will), the DDJ does not. Bringing students to an awareness of these differences is, David L. Hall argues, an excellent way to introduce them to the advantages of a comparative approach to philosophic reflection.Less
This essay discusses the way the DDJ contradicts or even subverts many Western philosophic and religious assumptions about ontology, cosmology and the self. Where many Western philosophers describe being as “a common property or a relational structure” the DDJ seems not to posit any such “superordinate One to which the Many reduce.” Similarly, where many Western thinkers portray the self as a collection of competing and sometimes conflicting faculties (e.g. reason, appetite and will), the DDJ does not. Bringing students to an awareness of these differences is, David L. Hall argues, an excellent way to introduce them to the advantages of a comparative approach to philosophic reflection.
Gary D. DeAngelis, Warren G. Frisina, and Gary D. DeAngelis
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195332704
- eISBN:
- 9780199868155
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195332704.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This essay outlines the way Gary D. DeAngelis employs the DDJ in a course on comparative mysticisms. Beginning with Ninian Smart's definition of mystical experience as a “state of consciousness where ...
More
This essay outlines the way Gary D. DeAngelis employs the DDJ in a course on comparative mysticisms. Beginning with Ninian Smart's definition of mystical experience as a “state of consciousness where one ‘acquires a fundamental insight into the nature of reality,'” DeAngelis leads students into a discussion of how the DDJ responds to two basic questions: “What is the nature of ultimate reality?; and How may one experience that reality?” These questions lead students to explore basic epistemological issues as they come to a deeper understanding of what the DDJ may mean by saying that it is possible to “know” a Dao which is itself “unknowable.”Less
This essay outlines the way Gary D. DeAngelis employs the DDJ in a course on comparative mysticisms. Beginning with Ninian Smart's definition of mystical experience as a “state of consciousness where one ‘acquires a fundamental insight into the nature of reality,'” DeAngelis leads students into a discussion of how the DDJ responds to two basic questions: “What is the nature of ultimate reality?; and How may one experience that reality?” These questions lead students to explore basic epistemological issues as they come to a deeper understanding of what the DDJ may mean by saying that it is possible to “know” a Dao which is itself “unknowable.”
Gary D. DeAngelis, Warren G. Frisina, and Eva Wong
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195332704
- eISBN:
- 9780199868155
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195332704.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
The contemporary Daoist practitioner, Eva Wong, explains that many of the DDJ 's most puzzling passages make perfect sense when seen in the light of Daoist activities and exercises. Specifically, she ...
More
The contemporary Daoist practitioner, Eva Wong, explains that many of the DDJ 's most puzzling passages make perfect sense when seen in the light of Daoist activities and exercises. Specifically, she argues that phrases like “quieting the mind,” “nourishing the soul”, “infant breathing,” and “cleaning the subtle mirror” point toward particular kinds of actions which early (and in many cases contemporary) Daoists believed would lead one to live a life more nearly in accord with the Dao. Less
The contemporary Daoist practitioner, Eva Wong, explains that many of the DDJ 's most puzzling passages make perfect sense when seen in the light of Daoist activities and exercises. Specifically, she argues that phrases like “quieting the mind,” “nourishing the soul”, “infant breathing,” and “cleaning the subtle mirror” point toward particular kinds of actions which early (and in many cases contemporary) Daoists believed would lead one to live a life more nearly in accord with the Dao.
Gary D. DeAngelis, Warren G. Frisina, Judith Berling, Geoffrey Foy, and John Thompson
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195332704
- eISBN:
- 9780199868155
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195332704.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This collaborative effort between an experienced teacher/scholar and two (then) graduate students presents three “overlapping” strategies for teaching the DDJ. The first emphasizes situating the DDJ ...
More
This collaborative effort between an experienced teacher/scholar and two (then) graduate students presents three “overlapping” strategies for teaching the DDJ. The first emphasizes situating the DDJ within the context of Zhou Chinese intellectual struggles and then proceeds by student led discussions about thematically grouped chapters. The second contrasts contemporary expectations regarding gender language with the DDJ 's own use of feminine metaphors in order to help students uncover what the text may mean when it uses those metaphors in the way that it does. The third aims to turn the DDJ 's notorious ambiguity to the teacher's advantage by leading students through a series of re‐readings of the text from different points of view. This third strategy helps students to see how their understanding of the text changes with each re‐reading, and that all interpretations are context‐dependent.Less
This collaborative effort between an experienced teacher/scholar and two (then) graduate students presents three “overlapping” strategies for teaching the DDJ. The first emphasizes situating the DDJ within the context of Zhou Chinese intellectual struggles and then proceeds by student led discussions about thematically grouped chapters. The second contrasts contemporary expectations regarding gender language with the DDJ 's own use of feminine metaphors in order to help students uncover what the text may mean when it uses those metaphors in the way that it does. The third aims to turn the DDJ 's notorious ambiguity to the teacher's advantage by leading students through a series of re‐readings of the text from different points of view. This third strategy helps students to see how their understanding of the text changes with each re‐reading, and that all interpretations are context‐dependent.
Gary D. DeAngelis, Warren G. Frisina, and Norman J. Girardot
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195332704
- eISBN:
- 9780199868155
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195332704.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Reflecting on his own history of teaching the DDJ at American colleges and universities from the early 1970's through to the end of the 20th century, Norman Girardot describes scholarly and cultural ...
More
Reflecting on his own history of teaching the DDJ at American colleges and universities from the early 1970's through to the end of the 20th century, Norman Girardot describes scholarly and cultural changes that have had an impact on what he does in the classroom, especially his use of popularized presentations of the DDJ both as a way of opening students to the text, and as a reference point to be criticized once he has led them toward a fuller understanding of its historical and cultural context. Included is a discussion of the nature and role of performative ritual including a one‐day college‐wide phantasmagora called “Dao‐day.”Less
Reflecting on his own history of teaching the DDJ at American colleges and universities from the early 1970's through to the end of the 20th century, Norman Girardot describes scholarly and cultural changes that have had an impact on what he does in the classroom, especially his use of popularized presentations of the DDJ both as a way of opening students to the text, and as a reference point to be criticized once he has led them toward a fuller understanding of its historical and cultural context. Included is a discussion of the nature and role of performative ritual including a one‐day college‐wide phantasmagora called “Dao‐day.”
Gary D. DeAngelis, Warren G. Frisina, and Livia Kohn
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195332704
- eISBN:
- 9780199868155
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195332704.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This essay urges teachers of the Daode jing to cultivate in their students an appreciation of the multifarious history and ongoing reception of the DDJ and the traditions it has helped spawn. In ...
More
This essay urges teachers of the Daode jing to cultivate in their students an appreciation of the multifarious history and ongoing reception of the DDJ and the traditions it has helped spawn. In particular it urges that our students come to understand the textual history of the DDJ's development (as revealed via recent archeological finds), the historical reality surrounding the text's creation (e.g. Warring States politics; competing philosophic views), and the role the DDJ has played in the development of Daoist rituals and practices. Livia Kohn also suggests that students would benefit from an appreciation of the religious dimensions of Daoism, especially an understanding of the meditative and cultivation practices which seem so critical to the early Daoist communities and the development of Laozi from legendary antagonist of Confucius to the status of a divine being.Less
This essay urges teachers of the Daode jing to cultivate in their students an appreciation of the multifarious history and ongoing reception of the DDJ and the traditions it has helped spawn. In particular it urges that our students come to understand the textual history of the DDJ's development (as revealed via recent archeological finds), the historical reality surrounding the text's creation (e.g. Warring States politics; competing philosophic views), and the role the DDJ has played in the development of Daoist rituals and practices. Livia Kohn also suggests that students would benefit from an appreciation of the religious dimensions of Daoism, especially an understanding of the meditative and cultivation practices which seem so critical to the early Daoist communities and the development of Laozi from legendary antagonist of Confucius to the status of a divine being.
Livia Kohn
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195097030
- eISBN:
- 9780199848805
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195097030.003.0013
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
The two major classics of the Taoist tradition, the Daode jing and the Zhuangzi, are philosophical writings from about 300 bce that contain a rich store of ancient wisdom They are not at all alike. ...
More
The two major classics of the Taoist tradition, the Daode jing and the Zhuangzi, are philosophical writings from about 300 bce that contain a rich store of ancient wisdom They are not at all alike. The Daode jing, a collection of proverbs, aphorisms, and traditional sayings, is very short and rather mysterious in its often elliptic and enigmatic verses. The Zhuangzi is a compendium of prose that includes stories, fables, and parables in happy imitation of a footloose Taoist lifestyle. Yet combined, the two texts contain the essence of the Taoist mystical tradition and, over the centuries, have stood at the center of Taoist beliefs and practices, adapted and reinterpreted ever anew in light of contemporaneous concerns and sectarian preferences. This chapter examines the two texts and their development in the Chinese middle ages. It first presents a detailed description of the texts; then, proceeding in pairs, looks at two major commentaries from the early centuries ce and at the use of the classics in sectarian Taoist practices of the 4th and 5th centuries. Finally, the chapter focuses on their reinterpretation under Buddhist impact during the Tang dynasty (618–906). It shows how the tradition remains true to its original sources without ever giving up its flexibility or strength to serve the needs of later generations. It also documents the continuing importance of ancient sacred texts in the practical efforts of living Taoist mystics.Less
The two major classics of the Taoist tradition, the Daode jing and the Zhuangzi, are philosophical writings from about 300 bce that contain a rich store of ancient wisdom They are not at all alike. The Daode jing, a collection of proverbs, aphorisms, and traditional sayings, is very short and rather mysterious in its often elliptic and enigmatic verses. The Zhuangzi is a compendium of prose that includes stories, fables, and parables in happy imitation of a footloose Taoist lifestyle. Yet combined, the two texts contain the essence of the Taoist mystical tradition and, over the centuries, have stood at the center of Taoist beliefs and practices, adapted and reinterpreted ever anew in light of contemporaneous concerns and sectarian preferences. This chapter examines the two texts and their development in the Chinese middle ages. It first presents a detailed description of the texts; then, proceeding in pairs, looks at two major commentaries from the early centuries ce and at the use of the classics in sectarian Taoist practices of the 4th and 5th centuries. Finally, the chapter focuses on their reinterpretation under Buddhist impact during the Tang dynasty (618–906). It shows how the tradition remains true to its original sources without ever giving up its flexibility or strength to serve the needs of later generations. It also documents the continuing importance of ancient sacred texts in the practical efforts of living Taoist mystics.
PING-CHEN HSIUNG
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195160017
- eISBN:
- 9780199849611
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195160017.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This chapter intends to show contrasting convictions and practices of male reproductive behavior in imperial China that will fend off over-generalization based on the modern thesis about men's sexual ...
More
This chapter intends to show contrasting convictions and practices of male reproductive behavior in imperial China that will fend off over-generalization based on the modern thesis about men's sexual responsibility. Coming from a long tradition of Taoist notions concerning life nurturing and the Confucian concern for family reproduction, the special characteristics as well as the historical background of this late imperial literature on male medicine invites attention. Male reproductive culture in imperial China indicated that for reasons of health preservation and personal and social development, as well as concern for successful breeding of the next generation of wholesome, intelligent and surviving heirs, sexuality can be seen as too serious to be left to insensitive personal indulgence. The acceptance of the legitimacy of sexual pleasure and the acceptance of the lasting social obligations that sex implies is not a “modern” invention. Chinese Taoism actually identifies coital activities as a vehicle to arrive at a wide array of different purposes.Less
This chapter intends to show contrasting convictions and practices of male reproductive behavior in imperial China that will fend off over-generalization based on the modern thesis about men's sexual responsibility. Coming from a long tradition of Taoist notions concerning life nurturing and the Confucian concern for family reproduction, the special characteristics as well as the historical background of this late imperial literature on male medicine invites attention. Male reproductive culture in imperial China indicated that for reasons of health preservation and personal and social development, as well as concern for successful breeding of the next generation of wholesome, intelligent and surviving heirs, sexuality can be seen as too serious to be left to insensitive personal indulgence. The acceptance of the legitimacy of sexual pleasure and the acceptance of the lasting social obligations that sex implies is not a “modern” invention. Chinese Taoism actually identifies coital activities as a vehicle to arrive at a wide array of different purposes.
GELING SHANG
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195160017
- eISBN:
- 9780199849611
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195160017.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This chapter explores the significant role that Chinese religious traditions have played in the context of family planning and related issues. It argues that the idea of family planning or population ...
More
This chapter explores the significant role that Chinese religious traditions have played in the context of family planning and related issues. It argues that the idea of family planning or population management does not necessarily conflict with the long traditions of the Chinese religions. On the contrary, the compatibility between the modern idea of family planning and how it was conceived according to Chinese traditions is in fact an inherent cultural and spiritual resource that has enabled Chinese people to tolerate, accept, and even support the modern idea of family planning. “Chinese religious traditions” designates the two major indigenous religions: Confucianism and Taoism, which have shaped the Chinese cultural tradition since the Chou Dynasty (1066–256 b.c.e.), during which the classics or scriptures of both religions were composed by their initiators. This chapter focuses on the ideas and beliefs shared by both religions that have been absorbed into the larger contexts of Chinese culture.Less
This chapter explores the significant role that Chinese religious traditions have played in the context of family planning and related issues. It argues that the idea of family planning or population management does not necessarily conflict with the long traditions of the Chinese religions. On the contrary, the compatibility between the modern idea of family planning and how it was conceived according to Chinese traditions is in fact an inherent cultural and spiritual resource that has enabled Chinese people to tolerate, accept, and even support the modern idea of family planning. “Chinese religious traditions” designates the two major indigenous religions: Confucianism and Taoism, which have shaped the Chinese cultural tradition since the Chou Dynasty (1066–256 b.c.e.), during which the classics or scriptures of both religions were composed by their initiators. This chapter focuses on the ideas and beliefs shared by both religions that have been absorbed into the larger contexts of Chinese culture.
Christine Mollier
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824831691
- eISBN:
- 9780824868765
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824831691.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This book reveals previously unexplored dimensions of the interaction between Buddhism and Taoism in medieval China. While scholars of Chinese religions have long recognized the mutual influences ...
More
This book reveals previously unexplored dimensions of the interaction between Buddhism and Taoism in medieval China. While scholars of Chinese religions have long recognized the mutual influences linking the two traditions, the book brings to light their intense contest for hegemony in the domains of scripture and ritual. It 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. In this context, Buddhist apocrypha and Taoist scriptures were composed through a process of mutual borrowing, yielding parallel texts, the book argues, that closely mirrored one another. Life-extending techniques, astrological observances, talismans, spells, and the use of effigies and icons to resolve the fundamental preoccupations of medieval society were similarly incorporated in both religions. In many cases, as a result, one and the same body of material can be found in both Buddhist and Taoist guises. Through case-studies, the patterns whereby medieval Buddhists and Taoists each appropriated and transformed for their own use the rites and scriptures oftheir rivals are revealed with precision.Less
This book reveals previously unexplored dimensions of the interaction between Buddhism and Taoism in medieval China. While scholars of Chinese religions have long recognized the mutual influences linking the two traditions, the book brings to light their intense contest for hegemony in the domains of scripture and ritual. It 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. In this context, Buddhist apocrypha and Taoist scriptures were composed through a process of mutual borrowing, yielding parallel texts, the book argues, that closely mirrored one another. Life-extending techniques, astrological observances, talismans, spells, and the use of effigies and icons to resolve the fundamental preoccupations of medieval society were similarly incorporated in both religions. In many cases, as a result, one and the same body of material can be found in both Buddhist and Taoist guises. Through case-studies, the patterns whereby medieval Buddhists and Taoists each appropriated and transformed for their own use the rites and scriptures oftheir rivals are revealed with precision.
Tiantian Zheng
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780816691999
- eISBN:
- 9781452952499
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816691999.003.0008
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
Chapter 7 explores popular sexual practices among tongzhi, including group sex, threesomes, and one-night stands, and the ways in which political, social, and cultural factors play a critical role in ...
More
Chapter 7 explores popular sexual practices among tongzhi, including group sex, threesomes, and one-night stands, and the ways in which political, social, and cultural factors play a critical role in shaping tongzhi’s high-risk sexual behaviors and susceptibility to HIV and sexually transmitted infections. Political factors such as police harassment, police arrests, and a hostile environment fuel high-risk sexual behaviors and inhibit condom use. The gender dynamics between 0 (female role) and 1 (male role) often give 1s the power as the decision maker about condom use. Sociocultural factors such as the symbol of condoms as promiscuity, infidelity, and an antithesis to love also curtail their use in sexual encounters. Condom use is further impeded by the belief in the Taoist ideology and Chinese traditional medicine and by drug use. Thus this chapter investigates the underlying complexities and nuances that are implicated in tongzhi’s decisions about condom use in the era of HIV/AIDS in postsocialist China.Less
Chapter 7 explores popular sexual practices among tongzhi, including group sex, threesomes, and one-night stands, and the ways in which political, social, and cultural factors play a critical role in shaping tongzhi’s high-risk sexual behaviors and susceptibility to HIV and sexually transmitted infections. Political factors such as police harassment, police arrests, and a hostile environment fuel high-risk sexual behaviors and inhibit condom use. The gender dynamics between 0 (female role) and 1 (male role) often give 1s the power as the decision maker about condom use. Sociocultural factors such as the symbol of condoms as promiscuity, infidelity, and an antithesis to love also curtail their use in sexual encounters. Condom use is further impeded by the belief in the Taoist ideology and Chinese traditional medicine and by drug use. Thus this chapter investigates the underlying complexities and nuances that are implicated in tongzhi’s decisions about condom use in the era of HIV/AIDS in postsocialist China.
Christopher A. Ford
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813192635
- eISBN:
- 9780813135519
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813192635.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter examines the conceptions of statecraft and international order in the ancient Chinese traditions of Taoism, Buddhism, Legalism, and bingjia, and how these impact the social and political ...
More
This chapter examines the conceptions of statecraft and international order in the ancient Chinese traditions of Taoism, Buddhism, Legalism, and bingjia, and how these impact the social and political philosophy of modern China as it relates to the rest of the world. It is shown that the Chinese intellectual tradition is suffused with a monist political ideology that conceives of international order in fundamentally hierarchical terms and idealizes interstate order as tending toward universal hegemony or actual empire. Hence, it lacks a meaningful concept of coequal, legitimate sovereignties pursuant to which states may coexist over the long term in nonhierarchical relationships. With the exception of Buddhism, such conceptions of international order may be seen in all the major philosophical currents that are examined. In a country as obsessed as China is with canonical texts and the present-day legitimacy that literary-historical precedent is felt to convey, this legacy of hierarchical assumptions about international order may also provide cause for concern to students of modern-day international relations.Less
This chapter examines the conceptions of statecraft and international order in the ancient Chinese traditions of Taoism, Buddhism, Legalism, and bingjia, and how these impact the social and political philosophy of modern China as it relates to the rest of the world. It is shown that the Chinese intellectual tradition is suffused with a monist political ideology that conceives of international order in fundamentally hierarchical terms and idealizes interstate order as tending toward universal hegemony or actual empire. Hence, it lacks a meaningful concept of coequal, legitimate sovereignties pursuant to which states may coexist over the long term in nonhierarchical relationships. With the exception of Buddhism, such conceptions of international order may be seen in all the major philosophical currents that are examined. In a country as obsessed as China is with canonical texts and the present-day legitimacy that literary-historical precedent is felt to convey, this legacy of hierarchical assumptions about international order may also provide cause for concern to students of modern-day international relations.
Robert Kane
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195126563
- eISBN:
- 9780199868506
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195126564.003.0009
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
The task of constructing an indeterminist account of free will without appeal to obscure or mysterious notions of agency or causation (begun in Ch. 8) is continued in this chapter. The theory is ...
More
The task of constructing an indeterminist account of free will without appeal to obscure or mysterious notions of agency or causation (begun in Ch. 8) is continued in this chapter. The theory is extended to additional topics beyond free choices in moral and prudential contexts, for example, to “efforts of will sustaining purposes” that may be involved in different human activities where resistance in the will must be overcome, to acts of attention, to self‐control and self‐modification, practical deliberation, creative problem solving and changes of intention in action. Along the way, a number of other topics are discussed: evolution and rationality, the role of chance in problem solving, self‐deception, the role of “effort” in Eastern philosophies, such as Taoism, and the relation of incommensurability of values to free will.Less
The task of constructing an indeterminist account of free will without appeal to obscure or mysterious notions of agency or causation (begun in Ch. 8) is continued in this chapter. The theory is extended to additional topics beyond free choices in moral and prudential contexts, for example, to “efforts of will sustaining purposes” that may be involved in different human activities where resistance in the will must be overcome, to acts of attention, to self‐control and self‐modification, practical deliberation, creative problem solving and changes of intention in action. Along the way, a number of other topics are discussed: evolution and rationality, the role of chance in problem solving, self‐deception, the role of “effort” in Eastern philosophies, such as Taoism, and the relation of incommensurability of values to free will.
James A. Benn
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824839635
- eISBN:
- 9780824868642
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824839635.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
The book explores the contours of religious and cultural change in traditional China from the point of view of a commodity, tea. It shows how religious ideas, individuals, and institutions played key ...
More
The book explores the contours of religious and cultural change in traditional China from the point of view of a commodity, tea. It shows how religious ideas, individuals, and institutions played key roles in the spread and development of tea culture. Nine chapters, based on new research in primary sources composed in Chinese, trace the development of tea drinking from its mythic origins to the late-imperial period (sixteenth to nineteenth centuries), and examine the changes in aesthetics, ritual, science, health, and knowledge which tea brought with it. The book contains many original translations from the Chinese primary sources, including poems devoted to tea, technical manuals on cultivation and processing, and discussions of the properties of tea found in traditional medical literature.Less
The book explores the contours of religious and cultural change in traditional China from the point of view of a commodity, tea. It shows how religious ideas, individuals, and institutions played key roles in the spread and development of tea culture. Nine chapters, based on new research in primary sources composed in Chinese, trace the development of tea drinking from its mythic origins to the late-imperial period (sixteenth to nineteenth centuries), and examine the changes in aesthetics, ritual, science, health, and knowledge which tea brought with it. The book contains many original translations from the Chinese primary sources, including poems devoted to tea, technical manuals on cultivation and processing, and discussions of the properties of tea found in traditional medical literature.
