These fifty-nine pioneering articles by scholars from around the world (17 women / 22 men) showcase recent advances in Taoist Studies. Instead of upholding conventional paradigms, these innovative studies expand our very concepts of Taoism by probing social and historical dimensions unimagined by twentieth-century minds. Overturning virtually all customary premises, they demonstrate Taoist activities by centuries of emperors, officials, literati, and women; Taoist involvement in medicine, the sciences, and the very origins of printing; Taoist art, architecture, music; even Taoists as healthcare providers. Rather than decaying in late-imperial or modern China, Taoism has continued to evolve and reach new audiences (for instance marketing age-old self-cultivation practices to educated men and women in today’s urban settings).
A critical Introduction by Russell Kirkland (author of Taoism: The Enduring Tradition and co-editor of Routledge Studies in Taoism) analyzes the Present Generation compared to earlier scholars. This collection offers today’s freshest, most stimulating insights into Taoism’s durability and rich diversity. It is an essential work of reference and is destined to be valued by scholars and advanced students as a vital research tool.
VOLUME I
Part 1: Overviews of the Taoist Tradition
1. Russell Kirkland, ‘The History of Taoism: A New Outline’, Journal of Chinese Religions, 2002, 30, 177–93.
2. Kristofer Schipper, ‘Taoism: The Story of the Way’, in S. Little, K. Schipper, W. Hung, and N. Steinhardt (eds.), Taoism and the Arts of China (University of California Press, 2000), pp. 33–55.
Part 2: Hermeneutical Issues and New Perspectives
3. Fabrizio Pregadio, ‘Introduction’, Encyclopedia of Taoism (Routledge, 2008), pp. xiii–xvi.
4. Russell Kirkland, ‘Probing the Anti-Taoist Biasses of Western Sinology: Toward a Globalization of Taoist Studies’, in Evgeny Torchinov (ed.), Religiozno-filosofskoe nasledie Vostoka v germenevticheskoi perspektive (‘The Religious and Philosophical Legacy of the East: Hermeneutical Perspectives’) (Peterburgskoe Filosofskoe Oschestvo, 2004), pp. 69–81.
5. Nathan Sivin, ‘Drawing Insights from Chinese Medicine’, Journal of Chinese Philosophy, 2007, 34, 43–55.
6. T. H. Barrett, ‘Taoism and the State’, in F. Predagio (ed.), Encyclopedia of Taoism (Routledge, 2008), pp. 162–5.
7. Kenneth Dean, ‘The Daoist Difference: Alternatives to Imperial Power and Visions of a Unified Civilisation’, Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 2012, 13, 128–41.
Part 3: Continuities and Transformations of Elements of ‘Classical’ Taoism During Imperial Times
8. Evgeny Tortchinov, ‘The Doctrine of the "Mysterious Female" in Taoism: A Transpersonalist View’, in T. R. Soidla and S. I. Shapiro (eds.), Everything is According to the Way: Voices of Russian Transpersonalism (Bolda-Lok Publishing and Educational Enterprises, 1997), pp. 97–108.
9. Stephen Bokenkamp, ‘The Prehistory of Laozi: His Prior Career as a Woman in the Lingbao Scriptures’, Cahiers d’Extrême-Asie, 2004, 14, 403–21.
10. Friederike Assandri, ‘Laozi’s Eclipse and Comeback: The Narrative Frame of the Benji jing’, Journal of Daoist Studies, 2008, 1, 1–27.
11. Alan K. L. Chan, ‘Affectivity and the Nature of the Sage: Gleanings from a Tang Daoist Master’, Journal of Daoist Studies, 2010, 3, 1–27.
Part 4: The Formation of the Daoist ‘Canon’ and the Importance of Scripture in Daoism
12. Stephen Bokenkamp, ‘Lu Xiujing, Buddhism, and the First Daoist Canon’, in Scott Pearce, Audrey Spiro, and Patricia Ebrey (eds.), Culture and Power in the Reconstitution of the Chinese Realm, 200–600 (Harvard University Press, 2001), pp. 181–99.
13. Barbara Hendriscke, ‘The Place of the Scripture on Great Peace in the Formation of Taoism’, in John Lagerwey (ed.), Religion and Chinese Society, Vol. I (Chinese University Press and École francaise d’Extreme-Orient, 2004), pp. 249–78.
Part 5: Early Taoist Social Institutions
14. Kristofer Schipper, ‘Daoist Ecology—The Inner Transformation: A Study of the Precepts of the Early Daoist Ecclesia’, in N. J. Girardot, J. Miller, and X. Liu (eds.), Daoism and Ecology: Ways Within a Cosmic Landscape (Harvard University Press, 2001), pp. 79–93.
15. Stephen Bumbacher, ‘On Pre-Tang Daoist Monastic Establishments at Mao Shan, According to Daoxue zhuan’, Journal of Chinese Religions, 2000, 28, 145–60.
16. Livia Kohn, ‘A Home for the Immortals: Sacred Space and the Layout of Medieval Daoist Monasteries’, Acta Orientalia, 2000, 53, 79–106.
VOLUME II
Part 6: Taoist Cosmology and Concepts of ‘Nature’
17. Franciscus Verellen, ‘The Beyond Within: Groto-Heavens (Dongtian) in Taoist Ritual and Cosmology’, Cahiers d’Extrême Asie, 1995, 8, 265–90.
18. Robert Ford Campany, ‘Ingesting the Marvelous: The Practitioner’s Relationship to Nature According to Ge Hong’, in Norman Girardot, Liu Xiaogan, and James Miller (eds.), Daoism and Ecology (Harvard University Press, 2001), pp. 125–47.
19. Michael Puett, ‘Forming Spirits for the Way: The Cosmology of the Xiang’er Commentary to the Laozi’, Journal of Chinese Religions, 2004, 32, 1–27.
20. Evgeny Tortchinov, ‘External and Internal in Ge Hong’s Alchemy’, in Alan K. L. Chan, Gregory K. Clancey, Hui-Chieh Loy (eds.), Historical Perspectives on East Asian Science, Technology and Medicine (World Scientific, 2002), pp. 553–9.
21. Lucas Weiss, ‘Rectifying the Deep Structures of the Earth: Sima Chengzhen and the Standardization of Daoist Sacred Geography in the Tang’, Journal of Daoist Studies, 2012, 5, 31–60.
Part 7: Interplay Among China’s Religions and Value-Systems
22. T. H. Barrett, ‘Taoism and Chinese Buddhism’, in Fabrizio Pregadio (ed.), Encyclopedia of Taoism (Routledge, 2008), pp. 141–5.
23. Friederike Assandri, ‘Understanding Double Mystery: Daoism in Early Tang as Mirrored in the FDLH (T 2104) and Chongxuan xue’, Journal of Chinese Philosophy, 2005, 32, 427–40.
24. T. H. Barrett, ‘Taoism and Neo-Confucianism’, in Fabrizio Pregadio (ed.), Encyclopedia of Taoism (Routledge, 2008), pp. 139–41.
25. Paul Crowe, ‘Nature, Motion, and Stillness: Li Daochun’s Vision of the Three Teachings’, Journal of Daoist Studies, 2012, 5, 61–88.
Part 8: New Models for Spiritual Practice
26. Fabrizio Pregadio, ‘Early Daoist Meditation and the Origins of Inner Alchemy’, in B. Penny (ed.), Daoism in History: Essays in Honour of Liu Ts’un-yan (Routledge, 2006), pp. 121–58.
27. Shin-yi Chao, ‘Summoning the Thunder Generals: Internal Alchemy in Thunder Rites’, in Livia Kohn and Robin R. Wang (eds.), Internal Alchemy: Self, Society, and the Quest for Immortality (Three Pines Press, 2009), pp. 104–20.
28. Elena Valussi, ‘Female Alchemy: An Introduction’, in Livia Kohn and Robin R. Wang (eds.), Internal Alchemy: Self, Society, and the Quest for Immortality (Three Pines Press, 2009), pp. 141–62.
Part 9: Activities of Taoist Women in Imperial Times
29. Suzanne Cahill, ‘Discipline and Transformation: Body and Practice in the Lives of Daoist Holy Women of Tang China’, in Dorothy Ko, Jahyun Kim Haboush, and Joan Piggott (eds.), Women and Confucian Cultures in Premodern China, Korea, and Japan (University of California Press, 2003), pp. 251–78.
30. Shin-yi Chao, ‘Good Career Moves: Life Stories of Daoist Nuns of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries’, Men, Women and Gender in China, 2008, 10, 121–51.
Part 10: Taoism, Literati, and the State
31. Suzanne Cahill, ‘The Moon Stopping in the Void: Daoism and the Literati Ideal in Mirrors of the Tang Dynasty (618–907)’ and ‘Clarity and Luster: New Light on Bronze Mirrors in Tang and Post-Tang Dynasty China, 600–1300’ (papers from a Symposium on the Carter Collection of Chinese Bronze Mirrors at the Cleveland Museum of Art), Cleveland Studies in the History of Art, 2005, 9, 24–41.
32. Shin-yi Chao, ‘Daoist Examinations and Daoist Schools during the Northern Song Dynasty’, Journal of Chinese Religions, 2003, 31, 1–37.
33. Shin-yi Chao, ‘Huizong and the Divine Empyrean Temple (Shenxiao gong) Network’, in Patricia Ebrey and Maggie Bickford (eds.), Emperor Huizong and Late Northern Song China: The Politics of Culture and the Culture of Politics (Harvard University Press, 2006), pp. 324–58.
34. Judith Berling, ‘Taoism in Ming Culture’, The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 8: The Ming Dynasty, Pt. 2 (Cambridge University Press).
35. Xun Liu, ‘Immortals and Patriarchs: The Daoist World of a Manchu Official and His Family in Nineteenth-Century China’, Asia Major, 2004, 3, 17–2, 161–218.
36. Volker Olles, ‘Chinese Literati and Daoist Sacred Space: A Nineteenth-Century Inscription in Pujian County (Sichuan Province)’, The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 8: The Ming Dynasty, Pt. 2 (Cambridge University Press).
VOLUME III
Part 11: Taoist Music, Art, and Architecture
37. Judith Boltz, ‘Taoist Music’, in Fabrizio Pregadio (ed.), Encyclopedia of Taoism (Routledge, 2008), pp. 125–8.
38. Caroline Gyss, ‘Taoism and Chinese Art’, in Fabrizio Pregadio (ed.), Encyclopedia of Taoism (Routledge, 2008), pp. 183–5.
39. Patricia Ebrey, ‘Taoism and Art at the Court of Song Huizong’, in Stephen Little with Shawn Eichman (eds.), Taoism and the Arts of China (The Art Institute of Chicago in association with University of California Press, 2000), pp. 95–111.
40. Xun Liu, ‘Visualizing Perfection: Daoist Paintings of Our Lady, Court Patronage, and Elite Female Piety in the Late Qing’, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 2004, 64, 1, 57–115.
41. Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt, ‘Taoist Architecture’, in Stephen Little with Shawn Eichman (eds.), Taoism and the Arts of China (The Art Institute of Chicago in association with University of California Press, 2000), pp. 57–75.
Part 12: Contributions to Chinese Medicine
42. Catherine Despeux, ‘Visual Representations of the Body in Chinese Medical and Daoist Texts from the Song to the Qing Period’, Asian Medicine, 2005, 1, 9–52.
43. Nathan Sivin, ‘Daoism and Health Care’, Daoism: Religion, History, and Society, 2011, 3, 1–16.
44. M. Cristina Zaccarini, ‘Daoist-Inspired Healing in Daily Life: Lü Dongbin and the Multifaceted Roles of Chinese Barbers’, Journal of Daoist Studies, 2011, 4, 80–103.
Part 13: New Methods of Disseminating Taoist Teachings and Practices in Late-Imperial Times
45. Timothy Barrett, ‘Daoism and the Origins of State Printing: Du Guangting and the Guang Shengyi’, From Religious Ideology to Political Expediency in Early Printing: An Aspect of Buddho-Daoist Rivalry (Minnow Press, 2012), pp. 88–115.
46. Catherine Bell, ‘"A Precious Raft to Save the World": The Interpretation of Scriptural Traditions and Printing in a Chinese Morality Book’, Late Imperial China, 1996, 17, 158–200.
47. Alexei Volkov, ‘Scientific Knowledge in Taoist Context: Chen Zhixu’s Commentary on the Scripture of Salvation’, in John Lagerwey (ed.), Religion and Chinese Society, Vol. 2: Taoism and Local Religion in Modern China (Chinese University Press, 2004), pp. 519–52.
48. Richard G. Wang, ‘Taoist Writings Packaged in Ming Popular Encyclopedias and their Editing Strategies’, in John Lagerwey (ed.), Religion and Chinese Society, Vol. 2: Taoism and Local Religion in Modern China (Chinese University Press, 2004), pp. 591–619.
VOLUME IV
Part 14: New Traditions and Taoist Identity in Late-Imperial Times
49. Pierre Marsone, ‘Accounts of the Foundations of the Quanzhen Movement: A Hagiographic Treatment of History’, Journal of Chinese Religions, 2001, 29, 95–110.
50. Vincent Goossaert, ‘The Invention of an Order: Collective Identity in Thirteenth-Century Quanzhen Taoism’, Journal of Chinese Religions, 2001, 29, 111–38.
51. Monica Esposito, ‘Longmen Taoism in Qing China: Doctrinal Ideal and Local Reality’, Journal of Chinese Religions, 2001, 29, 191–231.
52. Vincent Goossaert, ‘Bureaucratic Charisma: The Zhang Heavenly Master Instititution and Court Taoists in Late-Qing China’, Asia Major, 2004, 3, 17, 121–59.
53. Volker Olles, ‘The Way of the Locust Tree Studio: Preliminary Remarks on the Foundations and Functions of the Popular Religious Liumen Movement’, in Florian C. Reiter (ed.), Foundations of Daoist Ritual: A Berlin Symposium (Harrassowitz Verlag, 2009), pp. 107–17.
Part 15: Modern Urban Taoism
54. Vincent Goossaert, ‘Daoists in the Modern Chinese Self-Cultivation Market: The Case of Beijing, 1850–1949’, in David Palmer and Xun Liu (eds.), Daoism in the Twentieth Century (University of California Press, 2012), pp. 123–53.
55. Xun Liu, ‘Scientizing the Body for the Nation: Chen Yingning and the Reinvention of Daoist Inner Alchemy in 1930s Shanghai’, in David Palmer and Xun Liu (eds.), Daoism in the Twentieth Century (University of California Press, 2012), pp. 154–72.
56. Der-ruey Yang, ‘From Ritual Skills to Discursive Knowledge: Changing Styles of Daoist Transmission in Shanghai’, in Adam Yuet Chau (ed.), Religion in Contemporary China: Revitalization and Innovation (Routledge, 2011), pp. 81–107.
Part 16: Monastic Life Today
57. Adeline Herrou, ‘Networks and the "Cloudlike Wandering" of Daoist Monks in China Today’, in Adam Yuet Chau (ed.), Religion in Contemporary China: Revitalization and Innovation (Routledge, 2011), pp. 108–32.
58. Wan-Li Ho, ‘Daoist Nuns in Taiwan: A Case Study of the Gaoxiong Daode yuan’, Journal of Daoist Studies, 2008, 2, 137–64.
Part 17: Prospects for the Twenty-first Century
59. Kenneth Dean, ‘Further Partings of the Way: The Chinese State and Daoist Ritual Traditions in Contemporary China’, in Yoshiko Ashiwa and David L. Wank (eds.), Making Religion, Making the State (Stanford University Press, 2009), pp. 179–210.
