Abstract
In the West religion is presumed to include a belief in theism, as we mentioned in the Introduction. It is also understood in an exclusive sense, and the Judaeo-Christian-Islamic God is characterised as a jealous God. One is either a Christian or a Jew or a Muslim, but one cannot be more than one of these at the same time. In East Asia this is not so. It is often assumed that many Chinese are Confucians in action, and Taoists in contemplation. We have said quite a lot about Confucianism. But what is Taoism?
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References
For a recent scholarly book, see Livia Kohn, ed., Taoist Meditation and Longevity Techniques, Michigan Monographs in Chinese Studies, vol. 61 (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, Center for Chinese Studies, 1989). On the practical front, Mantak Chia, a disciple of Taoist masters, has published a series of books that offer a systematic unpacking of Taoist ch’i-kung/qigong practices, combining meditation and visualisation with physical exercises. The publisher of the series, Healing Tao Books, is in Huntington, New York.
Karl Jaspers, The Great Philosophers, ed. by Hannah Arendt, trans. by Ralph Mannheim (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1966), vol. 2.
Max Kaltenmark, Lao Tzu and Taoism, English translation by Roger Greaves (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1969), p. 8.
J. J. L. Duyvendak, Tao Te Ching (London: John Murray, 1954), p. 24;
consult also Ellen Marie Chen, Tao Te Ching: A New Translation with Commentary (New York: Paragon, 1989), pp. 22–24. I presume that by magic power is meant a kind of charisma or ‘grace’.
Martin Heiddeger, On the Way to Language (New York, Harper & Row, 1971), p. 92.
Consult Hans Küng and Julia Ching, Christianity and Chinese Religions (New York: Doubleday, 1989), pp. 176–79.
English translation from Burton Watson, The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu (New York: Columbia University Press, 1968), pp. 57–58.
Alan K. L. Chan, Two Visions of the Way: A Study of Wang Pi and the Ho-shang Kung Commentaries on Lao Tzu (New York: State University of New York Press, 1991).
Consult Fung Yu-lan, A Short History of Chinese Philosophy, edited by Derk Bodde (New York: Macmillan, 1962), chs 19–20.
Paul J. Lin, A Translation of Lao-tzu’s Tao Te Ching and Wang Pi’s Commentary, Michigan Papers in Chinese Studies, 30 (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1977), p. 3.
English translation in A. C. Graham, The Book of Lieh-tzu (London: John Murray, 1960), pp. 140–41.
Liu I-ch’ing, Shih-shuo Hsin-yu, trans. by Richard B. Mather as A New Account of Tales of the World (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1976), pp. 372–73.
See English translation in Donald Holzman, Poetry and Politics: The Life and Works of Juan Chi, A.D. 210–236 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976), p. 195.
Julia Ching, Probing China’s Soul: Religion, Politics, and Protest in the People’s Republic (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1990), p. 90.
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© 1993 Julia Ching
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Ching, J. (1993). Freedom and the Natural: Taoism as Religious Philosophy. In: Chinese Religions. Themes in Comparative Religion. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-22904-8_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-22904-8_6
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