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Ghost Marriages among the Singapore Chinese: A Further Note: (1956)*

Marjorie Topley

Jean DeBernardi (ed.)

in Cantonese Society in Hong Kong and Singapore: Gender, Religion, Medicine and Money

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

Hermeneutics and Pedagogy: Methodological Issues in Teaching the Daode Jing

Gary D. DeAngelis, Warren G. Frisina, and Russell Kirkland

in Teaching the Daode Jing

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

Hermeneutics and Pedagogy: Gimme That Old‐Time Historicism

Gary D. DeAngelis, Warren G. Frisina, and Michael LaFargue

in Teaching the Daode Jing

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

Third‐Person and First‐Person Approaches to the Study of the Laozi

Gary D. DeAngelis, Warren G. Frisina, and Harold D. Roth

in Teaching the Daode Jing

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

The Dao and the Field: Exploring an Analogy

Gary D. DeAngelis, Warren G. Frisina, and Robert G. Henricks

in Teaching the Daode Jing

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

The Daode Jing and Comparative Philosophy

Gary D. DeAngelis, Warren G. Frisina, and David L. Hall

in Teaching the Daode Jing

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

Mysticism In the Daode Jing

Gary D. DeAngelis, Warren G. Frisina, and Gary D. DeAngelis

in Teaching the Daode Jing

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

The Daode Jing in Practice

Gary D. DeAngelis, Warren G. Frisina, and Eva Wong

in Teaching the Daode Jing

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

Imagine Teaching the Daode Jing!

Gary D. DeAngelis, Warren G. Frisina, Judith Berling, Geoffrey Foy, and John Thompson

in Teaching the Daode Jing

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

My Way: Teaching the Daode Jing at the Beginning of a New Millenium

Gary D. DeAngelis, Warren G. Frisina, and Norman J. Girardot

in Teaching the Daode Jing

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

The Reception of Laozi

Gary D. DeAngelis, Warren G. Frisina, and Livia Kohn

in Teaching the Daode Jing

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

Safe Sex among Men: Condoms, Promiscuity, and HIV

Tiantian Zheng

in Tongzhi Living: Men Attracted to Men in Postsocialist China

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

Tao, World, and Mind: Mystical Adaptations of the Taoist Classics

Livia Kohn

in Mysticism and Sacred Scripture

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

Power and Order in Other Chinese Traditions

Christopher A. Ford

in The Mind of Empire: China's History and Modern Foreign Relations

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

Heavenly Way and Humanly Doings: A Consideration of Chinese Man's Body Management During the Late Imperial Period

PING-CHEN HSIUNG

in Sacred Rights: The Case for Contraception and Abortion in World Religions

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

Excess, Lack, and Harmony: Some Confucian and Taoist Approaches to Family Planning and Population Management—Tradition and the Modern Challenge

GELING SHANG

in Sacred Rights: The Case for Contraception and Abortion in World Religions

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