Kenyon College homepageDepartment of Religious Studies
Joseph Adler

Religious Studies 472

Daoism

Joseph Adler  
Spring 2007
Ascension 312  
T-Th 2:40-4:00
adlerj@kenyon.edu  
Adler House
Office: 427-5290  
Office hours: MWF 3-4, TTh 1-2
   
and by appointment

This seminar will examine the various expressions of Daoism (Taoism) in the Chinese religious tradition. Beginning with the classical Daoist texts of the third century BCE (often referred to as "philosophical Daoism"), we will discuss the mythical figure of Laozi and the seminal and enigmatic text attributed to him (Daodejing), the philosopher Zhuangzi, and the shadowy "Huang-Lao" tradition. We will then examine the origins, beliefs, and practices of the Daoist religion, with its hereditary and monastic priesthoods, complex body of rituals, religious communities, and elaborate and esoteric regimens of meditation and alchemy.

Some of the themes and questions we will pursue along the way are: (1) the relations between the mystical and the political dimensions of Daoist thought and practice; (2) the problems surrounding the traditional division of Daoism into the "philosophical" and "religious" strands; (3) the relations between Daoism and Chinese "popular" religion; and (4) the temptation for Westerners to find what they want in Daoism and to dismiss much of its actual belief and practice as crude superstition, or as a "degeneration" from the mystical purity of Laozi and Zhuangzi.

READING

Available in Bookstore:

  • Livia Kohn, Daoism and Chinese Culture
  • Victor H. Mair, trans., Wandering on the Way: Early Taoist Tales and Parables of Chuang Tzu
  • Mark Csikszentmihalyi and Philip J. Ivanhoe, eds., Religious and Philosophical Aspects of the Laozi
  • Note: D. C. Lau, trans., Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching is also required, but has not been ordered for the bookstore because you probably have it already.

On Course Reserve:

  • Stephen R. Bokenkamp, Early Daoist Scriptures
  • Suzanne E. Cahill, Divine Traces of the Daoist Sisterhood
  • Scott Cook, ed., Hiding the World in the World: Uneven Discourses on the Zhuangzi
  • Mark Csikszentmihalyi, Readings in Han Chinese Thought
  • Catherine Despeux and Livia Kohn, Women in Daoism
  • Stephen Eskildsen, Asceticism in Early Taoist Religion
  • N. J. Girardot, James Miller, and Liu Xiaogan, eds., Daoism and Ecology: Ways Within a Cosmic Landscape
  • Livia Kohn, ed., Taoist Meditation and Longevity Techniques
  • Livia Kohn, ed., Daoism Handbook
  • Victor H. Mair, Experimental Essays on Chuang-tzu
  • Donald Munro, ed., Individualism and Holism: Studies in Confucian and Taoist Values
  • Harold D. Roth, Original Tao: Inward Training (Nei-yeh) and the Foundations of Taoist Mysticism
  • Holmes Welch and Anna Seidel, eds., Facets of Taoism: Essays in Chinese Religion

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING

  1. Participation (25% of course grade). The success of a seminar depends on the active participation of all members. Attendance at all meetings is required, unless you have a legitimate excuse and inform me about it beforehand. You are expected to have read the assigned material and to participate regularly in seminar discussion.

  2. Three short papers (15% each), 4-6 pages plus bibliography. Each must use at least two sources outside of required readings for the course.

    3. A female immortal
    - click image for full size -
  3. Final Paper (30%), 12-15 page paper plus bibliography, on any topic in Daoism. You must discuss your topic with me by Friday, April 20. The paper must use at least three sources outside of required readings for the course. If you wish, you may revise and substantially expand one of your earlier papers; in this case, please turn in both the original (with my comments) and the new paper.
Writing the Huangting jing
(Scripture of the Yellow Court)
- click image for full size -

SEMINAR SCHEDULE

1 Jan 16-18

Introduction and overview

  
  • Kohn, Daoism and Chinese Culture, Introduction, ch. 1
  
   
2 Jan 23-25

Laozi and the Daodejing
  • Lau, Lao Tzu (Introduction and text)
 
3 Jan 30-Feb 1

Reflections on the Laozi (I)
  • Csikszentmihalyi, Readings in Han Chinese Thought [CR], pp. 96-112 (two biographies of Laozi)
  • Csikszentmihalyi and Ivanhoe, Religious and Philosophical Aspects of the Laozi, Introduction, chs. 1, 2, 4
 
4 Feb 6

Reflections on the Laozi (II)

  
(no class Thur)
  • Csikszentmihalyi and Ivanhoe, chs. 5-6
  
   
5 Feb 13-15

Reflections on the Laozi (III)

  
Friday, Feb. 16: Essay 1 due
  • Csikszentmihalyi and Ivanhoe, chs. 7-9
  
`  
6 Feb 20-22

The Zhuangzi (I)
 
  • Kohn, ch. 2
  • Mair, Wandering on the Way, Intro, chs. 1-11
 
7 Feb 27-Mar 1

The Zhuangzi (II)
   
  • Mair, chs. 17-22, 26-27
     

<< Spring Break >>

8 Mar 20-22

Reflections on the Zhuangzi

  
Friday, March 23: Essay 2 due
  • Lee Yearley, "The Perfected Person in the Radical Chuang Tzu," in Mair, Experimental Essays on Chuang-tzu [CR], pp. 125-139
  • Judith Berling, "Self and Whole in Chuang Tzu," in Munro, Individualism and Holism [CR], pp. 101-120
  • Essays in Cook, Hiding the World in the World [CR]:
    • Harold Roth, "Bimodal Mystical Experience in the 'Qiwulun' Chapter of the Zhuangzi," pp. 15-32
    • Scott Cook, "Harmony and Cacophony in the Panpipes of Heaven," pp. 64-87
    • Alan Fox, "Reflex and Reflectivity: Wuwei in the Zhuangzi," pp. 207-225
  
   
9 Mar 27-29

The Han Dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE)

  
  • Kohn, ch. 3
  • Sima Tan, "On the Six Lineages of Thought" [H]
  • Roth, Original Tao [CR], pp. 1-9, 99-123
  • Paul W. Kroll, "An Early Poem of Mystical Excursion" (Yuanyou, from the Chuci), in Lopez, Religions of China in Practice [CR], pp. 156-165
  • Kohn, "The Symbolism of Evil in Traditional China" and "Yin and Yang: The Natural Dimension of Evil," from Living With the Dao: Conceptual Issues in Daoist Practice [H], pp. 3-21
  
   
10 Apr 3-5

The Way of the Celestial Masters, Early Alchemy, and the State

 
  • Kohn, chs. 4-6
  • Eskildsen, Asceticism in Early Taoist Religion [CR], pp. 1-13, 153-159
  • Bokencamp, Early Daoist Scriptures [CR] , pp. 1-27
  
   
11 Apr 10-12

Later Spiritual Practices

  
Monday, April 16: Essay 3 due
  • Kohn, chs. 7-8
  • Kohn, "Transcending Personality: From Ordinary to Immortal Life," from Living With the Dao [H], pp. 29-37
  • Bokencamp, Early Daoist Scriptures [CR], pp. 275-306, skim 307-331
  
   
12 Apr 17-19

Daoist Women
   
  • Cahill, Divine Traces [CR], pp. 1-33, 43-50, 103-106, 112-116
  • Despeux and Kohn, Women in Daoism [CR], ch. 7 (pp. 151-174)
13 Apr 24-26

The Quanzhen school and Daoist Monasticism
  • Kohn, ch. 9
  • Tao-chung (Ted) Yao, "Quanzhen – Complete Perfection," in Kohn, Daoism Handbook [CR], pp. 567-593 (skim 574-581)
  • Yoshitoyo Yoshioka, "Taoist Monastic Life," in Welch and Seidel, Facets of Taoism [CR], pp. 229-252
     
14 May 1-3

Modernity and Ecology
   
  • Kohn, chs. 10-11, Appendix 1
  • Kunio Miura, "The Revival of Qi: Qigong in Contemporary China," in Kohn, ed., Taoist Meditation and Longevity Techniques [CR], pp. 331-362
  • Girardot, Miller, and Liu, "Introduction," in Daoism and Ecology [CR],
    pp. xxxvii-lxiv
   

Monday, May 7, 4:30 pm: Final paper due

 

Edit date: 3/27/07