Search Results (19)

As the effective founder of Daoism’s Southern School, Bai Yuchan’s travels played a pivotal role in the sect’s early dissemination. Through a close analysis of his poems, prose, and letters, this study reconstructs the key itineraries and motivations of Bai Yuchan’s travels and examines how his itinerant practices shaped the early dissemination of the Southern School. His travels were divided into two phases: a pre-1212 period of Dao-seeking and a post-1216 phase of Dao-spreading, with the impetus for his later journeys arising from resolving internal alchemical cultivation dilemmas, which in reality, inaugurated his career of traveling to spread the Dao. Bai Yuchan established and disseminated the Southern School through sojourns and revisitations in various regions, with karmic opportunity (jiyuan 機緣) largely dictating the selection of sojourn locations during his journeys. Rooted in the Daoist philosophy of harmony, Bai Yuchan adhered to the principle of blending with the mundane while harmonizing one’s light (hunsu heguang 混俗和光) in his travels and interactions, maintaining active engagement within regional areas to foster harmonious relationships with local communities. This explains why Bai Yuchan was able to achieve the widespread dissemination of the Southern School through his itinerant activities over a short period. Full article

This article examines Daoist ritual and meditative practices, primarily developed between the fourth and twelft centuries, as cosmotechniques: methods for engaging, recalibrating, and occasionally overturning the spatial and temporal order. It first outlines the cosmological framework of the pre-Qin and Qin–Han periods, in which space and time were conceived as correlative and qualitative, forming the grounds of Daoist practice. Daoist foundational practices elaborately aligned with this framework but also introduced subtle disruptions that discover the singular space–time for transformation. Through the investigation of bodily cultivation and communal rituals, this study argues for attention to the performative aspect of Daoist practices, aiming to access and enact alternative space–time, and suggesting a dynamic interplay between alignment and disruption. The study further analyzes internal alchemy and visionary practices that engage in radical reversals of natural rhythms—employing fire, dissolution, and systemic negation to reconfigure cosmic flow. As shown here, Daoist practice is not merely contemplative but performative, reconstituting space–time and body. Though not articulated in ecological terms, such practices demonstrate ways of modeling and modulating lifeworlds attuned to the rhythms of nature—pointing to the possibility of reshaping life under unplugged conditions. Full article

This paper examines the philosophy of “Dao follows nature” (道法自然) and investigates how Daoist clothing transforms abstract cosmological concepts into a “wearable interface for spiritual practice” through the use of materials, colors, and patterns. By integrating symbol system analysis, material culture theory, and the philosophy of body practice, this study uncovers three layers of symbolic mechanisms inherent in Daoist attire. First, the materials embody the tension between “nature and humanity”, with the intentional imperfections in craftsmanship serving as a critique of technological alienation. Second, the color coding disrupts the static structure of the Five Elements system by dynamically shifting between sacred and taboo properties during rituals while simultaneously reconstructing symbolic meanings through negotiation with secular power. Third, the patterns (such as star constellations and Bagua) employ directional arrangements to transform the human body into a miniature cosmos, with dynamic designs offering a visual path for spiritual practice. This paper introduces the concept of a “dynamic practice interface”, emphasizing that the meaning of Daoist clothing is generated through the interaction of historical power, individual experience, and cosmological imagination. This research fills a critical gap in the symbolic system of Daoist art and provides a new paradigm for sustainable design and body aesthetics, framed from the perspective of “reaching the Dao through objects”. Full article

The Three Ni Doctrine of Healing the World 三尼醫世說 is a product of the Three Teachings Unity 三教合一 movement during the Ming and Qing dynasties. This doctrine is believed to have been directly transmitted by Confucius (Ch. Zhong Ni 仲尼), Shakyamuni (Ch. Mu Ni 牟尼), and Laozi (Ch. Qing Ni 青尼), which is why it is referred to as the “Three Ni”. After being extensively refined by the Qing dynasty Daoist Min Yide, the doctrine evolved into a complete theoretical system for healing the world. It advocates for the connection between humans and the world through “qi” 氣. By properly regulating the qi within the individual, one can influence the qi of the world, thereby achieving governance of the world through personal inner alchemical cultivation. The doctrine addresses the challenge of reconciling personal cultivation with the salvation of all beings after Daoism’s decline in political influence. It marks a significant breakthrough in the traditional Chinese ideal of “Inner Sage, Outer King” 內聖外王. Furthermore, Min integrated the Three Ni Doctrine with the Celestial Immortality teachings of Jing’ai Mountain Daoism, creating a systematic Daoist orthodoxy known as the “Heart Lineage of the Most High” (Ch. Taishang Xinzong 太上心宗). This initiative highlights the courage of Qing dynasty Daoist elites in reforming themselves to preserve Daoism’s status within the broader context of the Three Teachings Unity movement. Full article

This paper re-examines the Inner Alchemy methods found in The Secret of Golden Flower, or Taiyi Jinhua Zongzhi (太乙金華宗旨, abbreviated as JZ), a text created through fuji (spirit-writing) attributed to Lüzu (呂祖) in Changzhou 常州 during the late 17th century. Recent research has shown that Pan Yi’an (潘易庵), one of the primary editors of JZ, was, in fact, the same person as Pan Jingguan (潘靜觀), who assisted in the editing of Illuminating the Mystery of Concordance of the Three According to the Book of Changes (Cangtongqi chanyou, 参同契闡幽) and Illuminating the Mystery of Awakening the Perfection (Wuzhen pian chanyou, 悟真篇闡幽) as a disciple of Zhu Yuanyu (朱元育), the editor of these works. Meanwhile, in my recent research, I have reconstructed the Inner Alchemy methods described in these two works. (For the sake of convenience, in this discussion, I will refer to this system as the “Chanyou neidan method”, as both works include the term “Chanyou” in their titles.) Upon re-examining JZ with this framework in mind, I began to suspect that its content might be based on the Chanyou neidan method. This hypothesis is rendered highly plausible by the fact that Pan Yi’an, a key editor of JZ, was the same individual as Pan Jingguan, who assisted in the editing of the two Chanyou works. The aim of this paper is to analyze the similarities and differences between the content of JZ and the Chanyou neidan method, demonstrating that the former is indeed based on the latter. Furthermore, I intend to show that while JZ incorporates the Chanyou neidan method, it also simplifies its content significantly, making it a practical manual designed for literati (士大夫 shidafu) of the Qing dynasty to integrate Inner Alchemy into their daily lives. Additionally, although JZ was created through fuji (spirit-writing), I propose that fuji also functioned as a means for Qing-era literati to adapt Daoist cultivation practices to their own lifestyles. Full article

In this study, we re-evaluate Du Guangting’s (850–933 C.E.) contributions to Daoist philosophy and religious practice during the late Tang and Five Dynasties period (755–960 C.E.), emphasizing his method of “broadly drawing upon various texts and thoroughly exploring their meanings” (廣引眾文, 窮指詳采). Through a primary analysis of Explications Expounding upon the Sage’s Commentary on True Scripture of the Dao and the De (道德真經廣聖義), and supported by the Anthology of Lost Transcendent Biographies (仙傳拾遺), this paper introduces a novel perspective on Du Guangting’s redefinition of Daoist practices, emphasizing self-cultivation and moral integrity over traditional alchemical methods. This shift not only addressed the spiritual demands of his era but also set a precedent for ethical practices in Daoism, thereby reflecting its adaptability to socio-political changes. This research underscores how Du’s work significantly contributed to both the transformation of Daoist philosophy and the evolution of its religious practices, thus influencing subsequent developments in Chinese thought and spirituality. Full article

This study traces the evolution of religious healing practices associated with divine presence in China, from pre-modern traditions to the modern use of spirit-writing for obtaining divine prescriptions. It examines the continuity and transformation of these practices from the late imperial period to contemporary times. It argues that healing through divine prescriptions obtained via spirit-writing challenges the perceived dichotomy between religion and science, demonstrating that they have complementary roles, rather than being strictly opposing categories. For members of Jishenghui 濟生會, a lay Buddhist charity devoted to the Buddhist god Jigong 濟公 in Republican China, religion and scientific medical practice were integrated as complementary elements of daily life, combining doctrinal beliefs, ritual practices, and moral self-cultivation. This study examines how Jishenghui used spirit-writing to obtain and distribute divine prescriptions and medicines, demonstrating that the organization’s philanthropic activities and social standing were enhanced by the integration of religious beliefs with medical and charitable practices during the Republican period. This study bridges existing research on the histories of spirit-writing and Chinese medicine, and the distinctions made between “Buddhist medicine” and “Daoist medicine”. The article contends that, for ordinary people, no strict distinction existed between Buddhist and Daoist healing practices; instead, a shared religious culture regarding illness and healing was predominant. By contextualizing key analytical concepts such as “divine medicine”, especially “divine prescriptions” (jifang 乩方 and xianfang 仙方) within the broader history of Chinese medicine and religious practices, this article demonstrates the social significance of spirit-writing as a ritual technique to provide healing and charity by lay Buddhists in Republican China, and its enduring relevance in contemporary Chinese societies. Full article

The Daoist art of the bedchamber (fangzhong shu 房中術) constitutes a form of cultivation practice with the objective of promoting health and longevity through sexual techniques, generally applied within heterosexual contexts. However, with the evolution of male homosexuality culture during the Ming and Qing dynasties, depictions of the art of the bedchamber related to male homosexuality emerged in the literature of that era. This art was imaginatively traced back to Laozi and his disciple Yin Xi 尹喜. The sources explained the beneficial outcomes of these techniques by referring to classical Chinese cosmology: underage males were considered to have yin energy in their bodies, a condition similar to that in females, aligning with the fundamental principles of the heterosexual art of the bedchamber. Serving as a religious interpretation of emerging cultural trends rather than representing a new cultivation technique, this fictive art legitimizes homosexual practices among males, particularly those adhering to Daoism. Full article

This article proposes a reconsideration of the physio-psychological dimension of the notion of asceticism in Nietzsche in the light of classical Daoist philosophy. Nietzsche famously criticises the nihilistic ascetic ideal for negating the body-self (Leib-Selbst) in the Christian religion as well as in Socratic metaphysics. Nietzsche critiques the metaphysical language that presupposes an opposition between the good (as the useful) and the evil (as the useless). However, the Nietzschean ascetic person who says yes to life remains mostly conceptual within the philosophical framework where physio-psychology stands as the superior form of thinking. To contrast such asceticism that bears traces of Greek Stoicism and Epicureanism, I argue that Zhuangzi’s self-cultivating practices such as mind-fasting (xinzhai 心齋) can be incorporated into the Nietzschean physio-psychological notion of asceticism that goes beyond askesis with Stoic and Epicurean therapeutic connotations, given that both Zhuangzi and Nietzsche are more concerned with cultivating a lived body rather than purifying souls. Full article

Chinese Buddhists in the Eastern Han initially employed the term libai to denote a supreme ritual performed by believers and disciples when meeting the Buddha. Deeply rooted in an Indian ritual greeting tradition, libai consisted of the action of touching the ground with the forehead. Buddhist vinayas regulated the performance of libai for senior or sick saṃgha members. In accordance with the ritual rationale of pūjā, libai was frequently used, along with other ritualized actions, for worshiping Buddhist statues and sūtras. The Daoists appropriated libai as a ritual technique in complicated ways. Several pre-5th century texts appeared to apply the term to describe a solemn greeting ritual for high-ranked deities. Since the 5th century, Numinous Treasure and Celestial Master Daoists have provided divergent understandings and usages of libai in their rituals. Specifically, Lu Xiujing considered libai to be a major part of the retreat that functioned to cultivate the body. The end of the 6th century witnessed the continuation of employing libai in the rituals worshiping the Daoist Three Treasures. Its diversity and significance were acknowledged by the early Tang Daoist monastic codes. The lawful performance of libai, interpreted by Zhang Wanfu, associated the body with the mind, and manifested the utmost sincerity. Full article

This paper proposes examining the central notion of Oneness (一 yi) in Daoist thought by offering an analysis of its uses in the early writings of the Daoist tradition, beginning with the Laozi 老子 and the Zhuangzi 莊子 before moving on to Huang-Lao 黃老 texts. While Oneness in the Laozi primarily appears as another “name” for Dao, it was used in discussions of cosmogony and cosmology, political governance, and personal cultivation. These multiple aspects of Oneness in the Laozi were later developed along two different paths in Daoist thought. The first, exhibited in the Zhuangzi, the Baopuzi 抱樸子, and other similar documents, treated Oneness as the ultimate source of all things and extended its meaning in the context of personal cultivation. In resonance with this path, their central teachings concerned “maintaining Oneness” (守一 shou yi). In the second path, expressed in the Huang-Lao tradition’s understanding and interpretation of the Laozi, Oneness acquired a certain concreteness and was singled out as the criterion and standard for social order, while the notion of Dao gradually devolved into abstraction. Huang-Lao writers hence emphasized Oneness in the sense of unification, uniformity, a singular decree, or law, which opened a theoretical gap between Oneness and Dao, and their central teachings concerned “utilizing Oneness” (用一 yong yi) and “holding Oneness” (執一 zhi yi). Full article

For a long time, scholars have been applying the view of Confucius on Wen (文) and Zhi (質), centering on liyi (rites and rituals 禮儀) and renyi (benevolence and righteousness 仁義), to the Daoist concepts of them. This inevitably leads to many misunderstandings and overlooking the unique characteristics of the Daoist view. In the philosophy of Laozi and Zhuangzi, Zhi represents the natural state of human nature that is simple and desireless, while Wen refers to the corresponding expressions of speech and behavior generated based on Zhi. Under the Daoist Dao (the way 道)–Wu (object 物) model, the relationship between Wen and Zhi in Laozi and Zhuangzi is closely related to human nature and emotions, presenting Ti (source 體)–Yong (function 用) as the unity with nature as Ti and emotions as Yong. Secondly, Laozi and Zhuangzi’s view on Wen and Zhi is closely related to the thoughts of self-cultivation and governing the country, with the latter as the foundation for the former. Their view of Wen and Zhi shows the relationship of Ben (root 本)-Mo (branch 末). The probing into the Laozi and Zhuangzi’s concept of Wen and Zhi helps to understand the unique characteristics of the Daoist view, thereby further excavating the theoretical value and practical significance of the relationship between Wen and Zhi. Full article

This paper argues that the Yuan dynasty Daoist Huang Gongwang’s 黃公望 (1269–1354) painting Clearing after Sudden Snow resonates with the principles of inner alchemy (neidan, 內丹), particularly the stage known as the resurgence of yang force. Within this painting, four prominent visual elements—the sun, the spirit room, the cliff, and the snowy mountains—come together to imbue the painting with a rich tapestry of inner alchemical connotations. They collectively portray the sequential stages of cultivation, refinement, and transformation in the context of inner alchemy. The painting not only captures the moment of transition where the snow-covered terrain is gradually transforming into a fresh and awakened state, but it also embodies a visual metaphor for the inner alchemical transformative journey. Furthermore, each individual who engages with the painting may undergo their own personal transformation through the act of contemplation and reflection. Full article

The early Lingbao scriptures incorporate pluralistic gender discourses. On the one hand, the early Lingbao scriptures accept the social gender system of “differences between men and women” as the decision of all deities, and incorporate the “chastity” virtue of women advocated by Confucianism. The auspiciousness of giving birth to a boy and the masculine perspective of the Daoist discipline are not immune to correlative sexism. On the other hand, the early Lingbao scriptures actively borrow the Buddhist individualized gender, take the term “transforming a female into a male” as one of the “eight difficult situations” and the merit of worshipping the Daoist scriptures and illustrate the cultivated journey of women beyond gender in the stories of past actions, in an attempt to overcome the correlative sexism caused by the dominant gender system. The Dao unifies the concept of correlative gender and the concept of individualized gender, makes men and women equal objects of teachings, gives the perfected transcendent the freedom to choose gender, and integrates family ethics and individual transcendence with the images of a Daoist wife. The early Lingbao scriptures echo the Daoist principle of softness and femininity, use gender as an opportunity for Daoist cultivation, and explore possible ways to resolve gender trouble. Full article

In early twenty-first-century China, online fantasy is one of the most popular literary genres. This article studies a subgenre of Chinese fantasy named xiuzhen 修真 (immortality cultivation), which draws on Daoist alchemy in particular and Chinese religion and culture in general, especially that which was negatively labelled “superstitious” in the twentieth century, to tell exciting adventure stories. Xiuzhen fantasy is indebted to wuxia xiaoshuo 武俠小說 (martial arts novels), the first emergence of Chinese fantasy in the early twentieth century after the translation of the modern Western discourses of science, religion, and superstition. Although martial arts fiction was suppressed by the modernizing nation-state because it contained the unwanted elements of magic and supernaturalism, its reemergence in the late twentieth century paved the way for the rise of its successor, xiuzhen fantasy. As a type of magical arts fiction, xiuzhen reinvents Daoist alchemy and other “superstitious” practices to build a cultivation world which does not escape but engages with the dazzling reality of digital technology, neoliberal governance, and global capitalism. In this fantastic world, the divide of magic and science breaks down; religion, defined not by faith but embodied practice, serves as the organizing center of society, economy, and politics. Moreover, the subject of martial arts fiction that challenged the sovereignty of the nation-state has evolved into the neoliberal homo economicus and its non-/anti-capitalist alternatives. Reading four exemplary xiuzhen novels, Journeys into the Ephemeral (Piaomiao zhilv 飄渺之旅), The Buddha Belongs to the Dao (Foben shidao 佛本是道), Spirit Roaming (Shenyou 神遊), and Immortality Cultivation 40K (Xiuzhen siwannian 修真四萬年), this article argues that xiuzhen fantasy provides a platform on which the postsocialist generation seek to orient themselves in the labyrinth of contemporary capitalism by rethinking the modernist triad of religion, science, and superstition. Full article