Reveals techniques for achieving spiritual immortality through an in-depth exploration of Lao-tzu's Tao Te Ching • Includes practices and meditations for living in harmony with the Tao (universal essence) and Te (kind action) • Reveals the integration of heavenly and human power in the mystic field within us • Presents Tao Huang's English translation of the Tao Te Ching from the original Chinese Mawangdui text unearthed in 1973 For over 2,500 years the words of the Tao Te Ching, the primary scripture of Laoism and Taoism, have been regarded as among the greatest treasures of the world. Lao-tzu, whose name means “the ancient child,” wrote these brief but essential verses that have both confounded and conferred blessings on humankind. Now Taoist masters Mantak Chia and Tao Huang guide readers through the origins of this philosophy, the meaning behind its 5,000 pictographs, and the way of living that generations have followed. While the text of the Tao Te Ching has been passed down in literary form for generations, the essence of the text can be understood only through heart awakening--a true integration of body and mind--made possible with the insights and exercises in this book. The authors analyze Lao-tzu's teachings, line by line, and offer meditations, interpretations, and practical illustrations that clarify the true meaning and purpose of this classic text.
Navigating the uncertainty of a divided China wracked by warfare and corruption, Tao Yuanming’s poetry—expertly translated by Red Pine—chooses the path walked by China’s ancient sages, finding joy in living a simple life. The latest work in Red Pine’s rich career of translation, Choosing to be Simple: Collected Poems of Tao Yuanming, is a definitive portrait of the early Chinese politician and poet. Thoroughly researched and beautifully translated, this bilingual collection of over 160 verses chronicles Tao Yuanming’s path from civil servant to reclusive poet during the formative Six Dynasties period (220–589). Familiar scenes like farming and contemplating the nature of work and writing are examined with intimate honesty. As Red Pine illuminates Tao Yuanming’s sensitive voice, we find the poet’s solace and sorrow in a China transformed by modernity. Tao Yuanming’s distinct verse shows a keen attention to rhythm as he explores the tension of scarcity and indulgence, duty and escape. Reverberating with clarity and sincerity and laced with humor, the poems of Choosing to Be Simple portray a man’s timeless desire to live by the principles enshrined by China’s sages. Guided by Tao Yuanming’s own wonderment, we, too, find ourselves asking: “Why did I ever question my heart”? We are encouraged to find joy in simplicity—the tending of a garden, the sharing of wine with a stranger.
Laoism is the first ever book on the complete teachings of Lao Zi, an ancient Chinese philosopher-sage. It is also the first English depiction to distinguish Lao Zi's teachings from Taoism, a native religion of China. Endless revelations and commentaries on his text of Tao Te Ching (text) have been, and continuously exist in Chinese and many other languages, but not yet a complete work between the text and its poetic summary: the Lao Zi's self-invented fourteen-character couplet. The couplet, as old as the text, has been circulating secretively only in a few monasteries. This makes the writers throughout the history not being able to get a full picture on his work and the public inaccessible. The completion of such a project must be a combination of the spiritual inclination into the text and the heart-sealed connection with Lao Zi's spirit. The time has come.
Laoism is the first ever book on the complete teachings of Lao Zi, an ancient Chinese philosopher-sage. It is also the first English depiction to distinguish Lao Zi's teachings from Taoism, a native religion of China. Laoism has fourteen chapters within two sections. The first section describes the descending power of the Tao, the first volume of the text. The second enlightens the path into the virtuous practice of the Way, the Te of the second volume." -- from publisher's description.
Chinese is one of the rare languages that was created thousands of years ago and has been in continuous use ever since. As language signs, Chinese characters reflect how ancient Chinese residents observed and understood the universe and themselves. These characters carry the fundamental ideas of man and nature, which have further developed into Chinese philosophies that have shaped Chinese personality traits and the landscape of contemporary China. This book explores the origin and evolution of selected Chinese characters that best represent the cognitive process and core values of Chinese culture. The study of Chinese characters provides an insight into Chinese wisdom of harmony, love and resiliency from which people draw strength in face of challenges today. The book is unique in its inclusion of featured Chinese calligraphy in character studies, accounting for the aesthetic enjoyment of traditional Chinese art in the history of Chinese characters’ evolution.
A lavishly illustrated book that offers an in-depth look at the cultural practices surrounding the tradition of collecting ancient bronzes in China during the 18th and 19th centuries In ancient China (2000–221 b.c.) elaborate bronze vessels were used for rituals involving cooking, drinking, and serving food. This fascinating book not only examines the cultural practices surrounding these objects in their original context, but it also provides the first in-depth study tracing the tradition of collecting these bronzes in China. Essays by international experts delve into the concerns of the specialized culture that developed around the vessels and the significant influence this culture, with its emphasis on the concept of antiquity, had on broader Chinese society. While focusing especially on bronze collections of the 18th and 19th centuries, this wide-ranging catalogue also touches on the ways in which contemporary artists continue to respond to the complex legacy of these objects. Packed with stunning photographs of exquisitely crafted vessels, Mirroring China’s Past is an enlightening investigation into how the role of ancient bronzes has evolved throughout Chinese history.
This is a concise and entertaining guide to the complex tradition of Chinese mythology. While many around the world are familiar with some aspects of Chinese myth through Chinese New Year festivities or the classic adventures of the Monkey King in Journey to the West few outside of China understand the richness of Chinese mythology, influenced by Daoism, Buddhism and Confucianism. Offering much more than any competing overview of Chinese mythology, The Chinese Myths not only retells the ancient stories but also considers their place within the patterns of Chinese religions, culture and history. Tao Tao Liu introduces us to an intriguing cast of gods, goddesses, dragons and monks, including: the ancient hero, Yi the Archer, who shot suns out of the sky to save humanity from a drought; Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy and Compassion, to whom there are temples dedicated all over East Asia; and Madame White Snake, a water snake spirit in the guise of a mysterious widow, her story adapted into countless films and operas. This book is for anyone interested in China, as knowing its myths allows readers to understand and appreciate its culture in a new light.
This book rewrites the story of classical Chinese philosophy, which has always been considered the single most creative and vibrant chapter in the history of Chinese philosophy. Works attributed to Confucius, Mozi, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi and many others represent the very origins of moral and political thinking in China. As testimony to their enduring stature, in recent decades many Chinese intellectuals, and even leading politicians, have turned to those classics, especially Confucian texts, for alternative or complementary sources of moral authority and political legitimacy. Therefore, philosophical inquiries into core normative values embedded in those classical texts are crucial to the ongoing scholarly discussion about China as China turns more culturally inward. It can also contribute to the spirited contemporary debate about the nature of philosophical reasoning, especially in the non-Western traditions. This book offers a new narrative and interpretative framework about the origins of moral-political philosophy that tracks how the three normative values, humaneness, justice, and personal freedom, were formulated, reformulated, and contested by early Chinese philosophers in their effort to negotiate the relationship among three distinct domains, the personal, the familial, and the political. Such efforts took place as those thinkers were reimagining a new moral-political order, debating its guiding norms, and exploring possible sources within the context of an evolving understanding of Heaven and its relationship with the humans. Tao Jiang argues that the competing visions in that debate can be characterized as a contestation between partialist humaneness and impartialist justice as the guiding norm for the newly imagined moral-political order, with the Confucians, the Mohists, the Laoists, and the so-called fajia thinkers being the major participants, constituting the mainstream philosophical project during this period. Thinkers lined up differently along the justice-humaneness spectrum with earlier ones maintaining some continuity between the two normative values (or at least trying to accommodate both to some extent) while later ones leaning more toward their exclusivity in the political/public domain. Zhuangzi and the Zhuangists were the outliers of the mainstream moral-political debate who rejected the very parameter of humaneness versus justice in that discourse. They were a lone voice advocating personal freedom, but the Zhuangist expressions of freedom were self-restricted to the margins of the political world and the interiority of one's heartmind. Such a take can shed new light on how the Zhuangist approach to personal freedom would profoundly impact the development of this idea in pre-modern Chinese political and intellectual history.
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