Daoism Divided and Reunited
Вставка
- Опубліковано 22 тра 2024
- 00:00 || 0 Introduction
01:02 || 1 Daoism as a Philosophy
03:04 || 2 Philosophical Daoism vs Religious Daoism
04:29 || 2.1 Analysis of Creel
16:22 || 3 The New Perspective’s Criticism
17:18 || 3.1 Daoism’s Origin
23:14 || 3.2 Daoism in the West
27:01 || 4 The History of the New Perspective
28:42 || 5 My Take
Music: daisuki by Lazy Vibes
The study of Daoism as it stands today is divided. Throughout this video, I explore the division and its history, then share my thoughts on what to make of it all and what is to be done.
Please feel free to correct any of my mispronunciations and share any other thoughts you have.
Sources
Creel, H. G. “What Is Taoism?” Journal of the American Oriental Society 76, no. 3 (1956): 139- 52. doi:10.2307/596285.
Robson, James, and Jack Miles. The Norton Anthology of World Religions: Daoism. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2015.
Russell Kirkland, T. H. Barret, and Livia Kohn’s Introduction from…
Kohn, Livia. Daoism Handbook. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2000.
Lieh-tzu, and A. C. Graham. The Book of Lieh-tzu: A Classic of the Tao. New York: Columbia University Press, 1990.
Seidel, Anna. "Chronicle of Taoist Studies in the West 1950-1990." Cahiers DExtrême-Asie Année 5, no. 1 (1989): 223-347. doi:10.3406/asie.1989.950.
Hoffert, Brian. "Beyond Life and Death: Zhuangzi’s Great Awakening." Journal of Daoist Studies 8, no. 1 (2015): 165-78. doi:10.1353/dao.2015.0008.
Sivin, Nathan. Chinese Alchemy: Preliminary Studies. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1968.
Sima, Qian, and Burton Watson. Records of the Grand Historian of China. Vol. 1. New York: Columbia University Press, 1971.
Watts, Alan, and Al Chung-liang. Huang. Tao: The Watercourse Way. London: Souvenir Press, 2011.
Littlejohn, Ronnie. "Daoist Philosophy." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. www.iep.utm.edu/daoism/.
Pregadio, Fabrizio. "Religious Daoism." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. August 19, 2016. plato.stanford.edu/entries/da....
Thompson, George. “Master Gu teaches Chinese pronunciation.” UA-cam Video, 8:45, July 4, 2020. • Is it Taoism or Daoism... .
Relevant Sources Not Used in this Video
H. G. Creel, What is Taoism: and Other Studies in Chinese Cultural History, (1970)
Louis Komjathy, "Handbooks for Daoist Practice: Introduction"
Let me know what else should go here!
I come back to watch a video from this channel every now and then. It doesn't stop surprising me just how well-researched and fascinating these videos are. What's even more surprising is that they tackle subjects that pretty much no other channel tackles with this level of precision. Please make more videos.
This is a fine lesson in avoiding fundamentalism in any variety--secular or religious. You've provided an incredibly productive framework from which to approach the subject, and I look forward to reviewing your sources! I'm curious to know if you've come across the writings of Eva Wong. She's a contemporary Taoist and practitioner whose work comprises the more wholistic approach to studying Taoism that you've advocated here. I think you'd like it.
Thanks for the kind words! I'm familiar with the name (I believe from when I was looking into the Liezi) but I haven't read any of her work. She certainly appears to be an expert on both Daoist thought and practice, particularly internal alchemy and qigong, which is great. Thanks for the recommendation and I'll keep her work in mind as I delve further into Daoist studies!
@@IanWithyBerry You're welcome! I'd recommend her books "Being Taoist" and "Taoism: An Essential Guide." When my father-in-law read the latter, he said to me, "Man, I don't even know what Taoism is anymore!" This was a compliment and not a critique of the book. In any case, I'm really enjoying making my way through your series, and will definitely also recommend this to my father-in-law!
@@dominicgarzonio5293 Hahaha, that sounds like a proper reaction to a good introduction to Daoism! I'll note those two books of hers and thanks again for the support!
@@IanWithyBerry Sure thing!
Thank you. :)
I have just dicover your channel and I absolutely love it. Thank you for your the thorough investigation and clear explanation that you have displayed here.
They certainly explored "misticism" but my understanding is that the search is for spiritual immorality similar to the concept of escaping samsara in buddhism
If I remember correctly, practices by Daoists for immortality began being intent on attaining physical immortality through the creation of alchemical elixirs. I think this was the case until the late first millennia. Then, following the introduction, spread, and popularity of Buddhism in China, Daoism shifted from "external alchemy" to an "internal alchemy" akin to, as you say, the Buddhist concept of escaping samsara. The histories of Daoism and Buddhism in East Asian are certainly entangled.
Looks like our paths are crossing. Would you be interested in doing an interview or having a conversation with me, sometime?
Sorry for the late response and thanks for the interest! I don't think I have the breadth of knowledge for a long form interview. But, we could definitely have a conversation since our interests have some overlaps!
As a translator of the Dào Dé Jīng, I never looked at it literally. So, although poem 6 says, "The spirit of the valley never dies," I see it in the sense that one who is humble has no obstacles to overcome. A familiar phrase of the Dào is "Not Dào, early end."
I do not see religion in Laozi's poems. I see simply a way of living that is conducive to connection and success.
His poems are mantra-like because they reiterate the underlying secret to success: no desire, wúwéi, wúzhī (not know,) valley, female, stillness, silence, shut indoors, not contend and the list goes on.
The words are symbols that point to something deeper, within. The introspective depth is the dimension of the ineffable. This applies to all, from scripture to personal experience.
The Dào is intentionally laconic, skeletal. The idea is clever, as I see it, as it is to cause the reader or translator to make sense of it through introspection. There are parts that are quite straightforward and obvious, and other parts that are nebulous and requiring one to use one's inner resources.
If a person wishes to translate the Dào, I am happy to provide the resources: the six ancient manuscripts, the MDBG Chinese English dictionary are the essentials.
It's seriously ironic that Western academics have themselves fallen into a kind of ying-yang dualism (or maybe it's a Fichtean dialectic [thesis -> anti-thesis -> synthesis]) over which aspect of Daoism is the one and only "true Daoism." Agree with your points about how to approach the various aspects of Daoism. Maybe the best way to look at Daoism is that it's kind of an ecosystem or maybe a tree with different branches, a corpus of knowledge, belief, and practices that is continually evolving in a way that's open-ended and syncretic. It's fine to cut off a branch and use it as a walking stick I guess, but that's not the whole meaning or purpose of the tree that was the source of the stick.
Really enjoying all your videos on this topic by the way. Hope you keep making more Daoism-related videos.