The Taoist Body
A Cultural, Religion, China book. In recent years the world has seen the development of...
The ancient system of thought known as Taoism remains today the least well known of the world's great religions and one of the most inaccessible aspects of Chinese culture. This is in large part because Western thought clings to the notion of the separation of matter and spirit, body and soul. Taoism refuses this dualism and considers the body's perfection as essential as the soul's redemption is to Christianity.Kristofer Schipper's elegant and lucid introduction to the traditions of Taoism and the masters who transmit them will reward all those interested in China and in religions. The result of over twenty-five years of research, including eight years of fieldwork in China, Schipper's book retraces, step by step, the way that leads from Chinese shamanism and traditional village life to the physical Tending Life techniques, which in turn lead to the mysticism of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu. Schipper shows the fundamental unity underlying all aspects of Taoism as Taoism considers itself to be. The social body—the community, the village, the land—corresponds in all aspects to the physical body in Taoism. In both of them the survival of humanity is decided here and now. "My destiny is within...
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- Filetype: PDF
- Pages: 312 pages
- ISBN: 9780520082243 / 520082249
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More About The Taoist Body
In recent years the world has seen the development of a kind of fictitious Taoism which is propagated in popular kung-fu movies. There also is nowadays a form of purely theoretical Taoism adhered to by intellectuals, therapists, acupuncturists, and public service officials (serving on the "National Association of Taoism") of the Chinese government. But true Taoism is not merely a cult, nor a system, nor a therapeutic technique. It is, above all, the liturgical structure of local communities; it therefore belongs to the daily life of the people. Kristofer...
This was assigned for a class on Gender, Body, and Religion in China and I thought it was a good introduction to Taoism. There are some issues with it, such as generalizations made about the whole of Taoism even though Schipper only had experiences in Taiwan. I'm sure an expert in Taoism would have more to say about it, but overall,... Appointing anything short of five stars to this seminal work of Western scholarship on Chinese religiousity betrays a lack of familiarity with the subjects at hand on side of the reader. The author's groundbreaking work in organizing the Daoist canon as well as his vast first-hand experience with Celestial Master's Daoism in Taiwan... The Taoist Body written by Kristofer Schipper was pretty unique when it came out in 1982. It was one of the first serious attempts by western scholarship to look at "religious Taoism" and treat it with respect and as the true descendant of the works of Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi that had held the elevated position of "philosophical Taoism"...
