The Movement of the Great Dao: Daoism and Its Exchange with Foreign Cultures
A Special Issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444) belonging to the section "Religions and Humanities/Philosophies".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 538
Editors
Interests: the history of Daoism; Daoist philosophy; Daoist practice methods
Interests: the history of Daoism; the history of science and technology in Daoism; Daoist literature
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Chinese civilization is one of the world's major indigenous civilizations. Its brilliant achievements are inseparable from extensive exchanges with extraterritorial cultures. Among the three major cultural systems in ancient China, Buddhism has made great contributions to the cultural exchanges between China and India & Western regions, while Confucianism has had a wide-ranging influence in the East Asian cultural circle. In contrast, for a long time, it has been generally believed that Daoism has made little contribution to cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. Is this really the case? As a channel for cultural exchanges, religion mainly plays two roles: First, the spread of the religion itself. For example, through dissemination, Buddhism and Christianity have developed from local religions into world religions. Second, religion serves as a carrier for cultural exchanges. For instance, during the process of Buddhism's spread to China, knowledge such as Indian medicine and astronomy was introduced to China. In fact, both of the above-mentioned roles are reflected in ancient Daoism.
This Special Issue aims to promote the exploration of the specific roles that Daoism has played in the cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries in history. The scope of research includes both the spread of Daoism outside of China and the interactions between Daoism and foreign cultures in China; it encompasses both the exchanges of material culture and those of spiritual culture.
This Special Issue welcomes original research articles and critical reviews. Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
- The spread of Daoism outside of China, including the spread of Daoism outside of China in different historical periods and the interaction with local beliefs, cultures, or societies during the spread process.
- The struggle or integration between Daoism and foreign religions within China, including Buddhism or other relevant religions in different periods.
- The collection, circulation, or research of the Daoist literature in countries outside of China.
- The research on Daoist texts that incorporate non-Chinese cultural content.
- The research on the non-Chinese literature influenced by Daoism.
- The research on religions or cultures outside of China is influenced by Daoism.
We hope that this Special Issue can promote a detailed understanding of communications and interactions between Daoism and religions in/from other civilizations from a global historical perspective.
Prof. Dr. Wu Guo
Prof. Dr. Jishao Han
Prof. Dr. Zuguo Liu
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- Daoism
- the spread of Daoism
- cultural exchange
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