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Daoism and Chinese Culture
A long-awaited textbook that introduces the major schools, teachings, and practices of Daoism, this work presents a chronological survey that is thematically divided into four Ancient Thought, Religious Communities, Spiritual Practices, and Modernity.
The work offers an integrated vision of the Daoist tradition in its historical and cultural context, establishing connections with relevant information on Confucianism, Chinese Buddhism, popular religion, and political developments.
It also places Daoism into a larger theoretical and comparative framework, relating it to mysticism, millenarianism, forms of religious organization, ritual, meditation, and modernity. The book makes ample use of original materials and provides references to further readings and original sources in translation. It is a powerful resource for teaching and studying alike.
The work offers an integrated vision of the Daoist tradition in its historical and cultural context, establishing connections with relevant information on Confucianism, Chinese Buddhism, popular religion, and political developments.
It also places Daoism into a larger theoretical and comparative framework, relating it to mysticism, millenarianism, forms of religious organization, ritual, meditation, and modernity. The book makes ample use of original materials and provides references to further readings and original sources in translation. It is a powerful resource for teaching and studying alike.
218 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2001
77 people want to read
About the author
Livia Kohn
64 books26 followersLivia Kohn is Assistant Professor of Religion at Boston University.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 31, 2018
Although certainly not a studied person in Daoism, I cannot imagine a more well presented survey of its thought and its changing forms than this book. To be clear, I found the material pretty difficult. Take the following extract from the second chapter of the Zhuangzi:
Kohn explains that instability in both intellectual and emotional levels creates artificial tension that is not naturally there, and impedes the ability to live a full and natural life. It is a beautiful paragraph and a beautiful sentiment. In fact, I found the early Daoist writings to be very thought provoking and interesting, and Kohn presented them beautifully to an untrained reader such as myself.
As history proceeded, Kohn traces the different developments, offshoots, and cults that formed in the Daoist tradition and their impacts on Chinese culture. I found these much harder to follow, for some reason I can’t quite articulate. That being said, I thought this an interesting book by a trustworthy scholar, and I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the subject.
See my other reviews here!
Joy and anger, sadness and delight, worry and regret, fickleness and stiffness, fascination and idleness, imperiousness and consideration – they arise in us like music from hollows sor fungi from dampness [out of nowhere]. Day and night they alternate before us, yet nobody knows where they sprout from…Yet without them, there would be no I. And without an I, there would be no place for them to go.
Kohn explains that instability in both intellectual and emotional levels creates artificial tension that is not naturally there, and impedes the ability to live a full and natural life. It is a beautiful paragraph and a beautiful sentiment. In fact, I found the early Daoist writings to be very thought provoking and interesting, and Kohn presented them beautifully to an untrained reader such as myself.
As history proceeded, Kohn traces the different developments, offshoots, and cults that formed in the Daoist tradition and their impacts on Chinese culture. I found these much harder to follow, for some reason I can’t quite articulate. That being said, I thought this an interesting book by a trustworthy scholar, and I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the subject.
See my other reviews here!
August 10, 2008
The author sure seems to know a lot about Daoism....
This is a straightforward book, if, that is, anything relating to Daoism can be labeled 'straightforward.' I think I understood the book when I was reading it, but about ten minutes after the fact, if you had asked me to explain what I had just read, I wouldn't have been able to tell you anything. Maybe I'm too old and the topic is simply too foreign for me to really grasp, but, hey, I try. As with studying any philosophy or religion, it would probably be helpful if I become more familiar with the actual texts; after all, reading a commentary on Christianity might be hopelessly confusing without any sort of familiarity with the Bible, and I barely have a passing familiarity with the Laozi and the Zhuangzi. As it stands, all I can tell you about Daoism is that it's, like, kind of like, cool, and deals with like, energy and nature and stuff.
This is a straightforward book, if, that is, anything relating to Daoism can be labeled 'straightforward.' I think I understood the book when I was reading it, but about ten minutes after the fact, if you had asked me to explain what I had just read, I wouldn't have been able to tell you anything. Maybe I'm too old and the topic is simply too foreign for me to really grasp, but, hey, I try. As with studying any philosophy or religion, it would probably be helpful if I become more familiar with the actual texts; after all, reading a commentary on Christianity might be hopelessly confusing without any sort of familiarity with the Bible, and I barely have a passing familiarity with the Laozi and the Zhuangzi. As it stands, all I can tell you about Daoism is that it's, like, kind of like, cool, and deals with like, energy and nature and stuff.
March 25, 2012
An extremely thorough examination of religious, political, and "popular" Daoism, but barely goes into the philosophy at all. I mean, thats the point. Its a book about Daoism and Chinese culture, not a book of paradoxes and weird poems about water. It has a lot of information, but the narrative it ties them into is thinner than the data. The result is something which read very much like an encyclopedia. Its useful as a reference, and you'll remember more of it if you already have some familiarity with Chinese history and/or Daoism. But if you don't have that a lot of the book with seem totally contextless.
May 7, 2016
Kohn writes the clearest treatise on Taoism's complex history that I have read so far. It is hagiographic, historical, and precise. I would hazard to say that it is not the best introduction to the topic, but it helped me clear up a lot of confusion over different types of praxis and the complex relationship between the different schools.
September 12, 2012
Interesting religion; wasn't crazy about the format of the book, if I remember correctly.
May 2, 2013
It's great for the academic who wants to understand the history of Taoism.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews