Essays on Taoism and Taoist Alchemy: Volume 2

This book brings together a collection of studies on the doctrines, practices, and history of Taoism and Taoist alchemy. Based on original Taoist sources, it supports its discussions with a large number of quotations from texts belonging to different schools and historical periods, providing access to the language and ideas of the tradition.

The essays explore the relationship between the Daode jing and Neidan (Internal Alchemy); the foundations of Neidan in the Book of Changes; the main Chinese alchemical text, the Cantong qi (Seal of the Unity of the Three); the Neidan doctrines on human nature and its embodiment; the ways of "doing" and "non-doing" in Neidan; the views of immortality in the Baopu zi (The Master Who Embraces Spontaneous Nature); and the complex relationship of Taoism to divination practices.

Combining rigorous reading of texts with attention to their doctrinal and historical backgrounds, these studies explore several key themes in the Taoist paths of self-cultivation.

Additional essays on related topics are collected in Volume 1, available separately.

Contents

1. Laozi and Internal Alchemy
2. The Book of Changes and Internal Alchemy
3. The Authorship, Date, and Composition of the Zhouyi cantong qi
4. Destiny, Vital Force, or Existence? On the Meanings of Ming 命 in Taoist Internal Alchemy and its Relation to Xing 性 or Human Nature
5. Superior Virtue, Inferior Virtue: A Doctrinal Theme in the Works of the Taoist Master Liu Yiming (1734-1821)
6. Seeking Immortality in Ge Hong's Baopu zi neipian
7. Taoism and Divination

About the Author

Fabrizio Pregadio has taught Taoism and related subjects in Italy, the United States, Canada, and Germany. He is the editor of The Encyclopedia of Taoism and the author of Great Clarity: Daoism and Alchemy in Early Medieval China, of Dictionary of Taoist Internal Alchemy, and of The Taoist Tradition: An Introduction to Teachings, Schools, and Practices.