The Daode Jing

Erscheinungsjahr 2019
ISBN: 978-0-19-068981-0
Verlag: ACADEMIC

Buch, Englisch, 288 Seiten, Format (B × H): 145 mm x 222 mm, Gewicht: 494 g

The Daode jing ("Book of the Dao and Its Virtue") is an essential work in both traditional Chinese culture and world philosophy. The oldest text of philosophical Daoism, and widely venerated among religious Daoist practitioners, it was composed around the middle of the 4th century BCE. Ascribed to a thinker named Laozi, a contemporary of Confucius, the work is based on a set of aphorisms designed to help local lords improve their techniques of government. The most translated book after the Bible, the Daode jing appears in numerous variants and remains highly relevant in the modern world. This guide provides an overview of the text, presenting its historical unfolding, its major concepts, and its contemporary use. It also gives some indication of its essence by citing relevant passages and linking them to the religious practices of traditional Daoism.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Kohn

Kohn, Livia

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Sonstige Religionen Östliche Religionen Taoismus
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Philosophie: Allgemeines, Methoden

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- Introduction

- PART I: THE TEXT

- Chapter 1: Times and Authorship

- The Axial Age

- The Warring States

- Confucianism

- Yin-Yang Cosmology

- Laozi

- The Laozi Legend

- Divinization

- Chapter 2: Textual Development

- Language

- Texts in Tombs

- Guodian

- Mawangdui

- Heshang gong

- Standardization

- Wang Bi

- Chapter 3: General Principles

- Dao

- Cosmic Unfolding

- Natural Dynamics

- Self-Being

- Virtue

- Images and Metaphors

- Chapter 4: Social Application

- Nonaction

- Social Reality

- Sufficiency

- Humility and Simplicity

- Clarity and Stillness

- Sagehood

- PART II: TRADITIONAL EXPANSIONS

- Chapter 5: Communities and Politics

- Primitivism

- Self-Cultivation

- Longevity Techniques

- Inward Training

- The Jixia Academy

- Syncretism and Huang-Lao

- Masters of Methods

- Chapter 6: Devotional Activation

- Early Recitation

- The Celestial Masters

- Immortality

- Meditation

- Ritual Veneration

- Ordination

- Integrated Practice

- Chapter 7: Commentary Exegeses

- The Nature of Commentaries

- Ideal Rulership

- Personal Self-Cultivation

- Original Nonbeing

- Western Ascension

- Mystical Attainment

- Chapter 8: Later Developments

- Twofold Mystery

- Imperial Attention

- Song Huizong

- Internal Alchemy

- Daode jing Readings

- Clarity and Stillness

- The Qingjing jing

- PART III: MODERN RECEPTION

- Chapter 9: China Today

- Religious Veneration

- Academic Study

- Intellectual Engagement

- Politics and Education

- Ecology

- Cognitive Therapy

- Self-Help

- Chapter 10: In the World

- Eastern Transmission

- Early Western Reception

- Seeing Dao

- Philosophical Adaptation

- Popular Understanding

- Multiple Readings

- Chapter 11: English Translations

- Types of Translations

- Literal Translations

- Historical Scholarship

- Philosophical Readings

- Poetic Versions

- Social Applications

- Self-Help Manuals

- Whimsical Renditions

- Chapter 12: Western Adaptations

- Daoist Leadership

- Doing Business

- Ecology

- The Tao of.

- Literary Allegories

- Songs of Dao

Über Autor(innen)

Livia Kohn, Ph.D., is Professor Emerita of Religion and East Asian Studies at Boston University. The author or editor of over 40 books, she now lives in Florida, serves as the executive editor of the Journal of Daoist Studies, and runs various workshops and conferences.