Chinese Daoist Ascents

General Background

Bokenkamp, Stephen R. Early Daoist Scriptures. (University of California Press, 1997) [BL 1920 .B64 1997]

Kohn, Livia. Early Chinese Mysticism: Philosophy and Soteriology in the Taoist Tradition. (Princeton, 1992) [BL 1923 .K64 1992]

Kohn, Livia. The Taoist Experience, (SUNY, 1993) [BL 1910 .K64 1993]

Robinet, Isabelle. Taoism: Growth of a Religion, (Stanford UP, 1997) [BL 1910 .R63 1997]

Wong, Eva. The Shambhala Guide to Taoism. (Shambhala, 1997) [BL 1910 .W66 1997]

Huangdi (Huang ti) = Yellow Emperor {-2698 to -2599?}

1 source??

primordial cosmocrator (thearch)

attained immortality

ascent to heaven in dragon-chariot

casting of the magic tripod

Yu the Great {-2205 to -2198?}

2 Wong, 11-4

"The Step [dance] of Yu" = "pacing out the stars"

[Wong, 12-3; Robinet, 174-5]

dance developed by Yu the Great

journeyed frequently to the stars to learn divine secrets

still used by Taoists today

Immortals (xian = hsian)

3 Robinet 48-9

most important = Huangdi and Laozi

live in hiding

masters of natural powers

can ascend up and down to heaven

wu /hsi = shaman {-1200 to -600}

4 Chang, K. C. Art, Myth, and Ritual. (Harvard, 1983), pp. 44-55. [DS741.65 .C53 1983]

Zhouli = discussion of ascent of the wu

zhu = spell of wu

spirit possession by god = lingbao

Laozi (Lao tzu) {-600 -4C to -3C}

Suma Qian, Shiji; 63 = only French translation]

(Lao Dan = personal name; Laojun = deified name)

Daodejing = founding scripture of Taoism

Henricks, Robert. Lao-tzu te-tao ching, (Ballantine, 1989), (= Mawangdui text) [BL 1900 .L26 E5 1989]

deification by Han emperor {166}

conflated with Huangdi and Taiyi (Supreme One) by reincarnations

lives in Big Dipper = center of heaven

descends and ascends from heaven to earth = celestial itermediary

surrounded by four cosmic animals = directions (cf. Ez. 1)

Cosmic Sage (cf. macanthrop)

anthropomorphic hypostasis of the Dao

Laozi bianhua jing = Book of the Transformations of Laozi (2C lt) [Robinet, 51-2.]

Xixingjing = Scripure of Western Ascension [of Laozi] {4C}

5 Kohn, Early Chinese Mysticism, 130-131

Kohn, Livia. Taoist Mystical Philosophy: the Scripture of the Western Ascent, (SUNY, 1991) [BL 1900 .H7965 K64 1991]

Zhuangzi = Zhuangzi

Watson, Burton. The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu. (Columbia, 1968)

Graham, A. C. Chuang tzu, the Inner Chapters. (Allen & Unwin, 1981)

6 The Yellow Emperor and Kuang Ch'eng (11=118-20)

sage rides on wind or white cloud (1= 32,33; 2 = 46)

mystical flight on the giant phoenix (p'eng) (1 = 29-30)

ecstasy

Fei Yi = "flying garment" and Lung = "dragon robe"

Mawangdui tomb

imperial robes

Yuanyou = "Far off Journey" from Songs of the South {-3C}

7 Hawkes, David. Songs of the South, an Ancient Chinese Anthology of Poems. (Penguin, 1985), 191-203

journey of soul to mythical or distant countries (cosmography)

journey to heaven

Daren = "Great Man"

Kohn, Early Chinese Mysticism, 96-108

= one who has ascended to heaven?

Fangshi (court magicians) {-6C to 2C}

DeWoskin, K. Doctors, Diviners, and Magicians of Ancient China: Biographies of Fang-shih. (Columbia UP, 1983). [QD 24 A2 D63 1983]

astrology, magic, medicine, divination, geomancy, writing

[Note the divination of Taoists by the "diviner's compass" (shi), cf. Liahona]

techniques of longevity, immortality

exorcism, "gymnastics" (daoyin)

ecstatic wanderings

weishu = apocryphal Taoists books which expand on legends and practices

"the talisman or text as a token of the bond between gods and men and the power given by knowledge of the names of gods and demons" (Robinet, 44)

Huainanzi {-160 to -122}

Major, John S. Heaven and Earth in Early Han Thought: chapters three, four and five of the Huainanzi. (SUNY 1993). [BL 1900 .H824 E5 1993]

Le Blanc, C. Huai-nan tzu: Philosophical Synthesis in Early Han Thought. (Hong Kong UP, 1985). See Robinet, 275-6 and Kohn, Early Chinese Mysticism, 182 n. 9, for list of translations of various sections.

descriptions of Taoist cosmology

"If the height of K'un-lun [cosmic] mountain is doubled . . . [and redoubled, and again redoubled], it reaches up to Heaven itself. If one mounts to there, one will become a demigod. It is called the abode of the Great God [T'ai-ti, the primordial god, also called Shangdi]. Explanation in the Kao Yu commentary: "the Ch'ang-ho Gate is the gate [through which] one begins an axcent to Heaven. The Gate of Heaven is the gate of the Purple Fortified Palace [I.e., the curcumpolar stars] where Shang-ti dwells." from ER 13:223.

Shangqing (Celestial Masters) and Lingbao sects {364 to present}

Shangqing = Robinet, 114-148; Wang, 44-65; Robinet, Isabelle, Taoist Meditation, (SUNY, 1993).

prophet = Yang Xi; major texts revealed to him {364-70}

complex ascent mythology and techniques

pu hsu = pacing the void

Robinet, 138-47; Kohn, Taoist Experience, #24-28, #34; Wong, 59-62

8 Lingbao school = Robinet, 163-177

9 miscellaneous texts in Kohn, Taoist Experience, 249-76

Hong Xiuquan and the Taiping rebellion {1837-1864}

Jonathan Spence, God's Chinese Son, (1994), 34-78. [DS 758.23 .H85 S64 1996]

-4C Daodejing = Five Thousand Word Classic

-4C Zhuangzi

-3C Chuci

-2C Formation of fangshi cosmology

school of Yin-Yang and Five Elements

166 Deification of Laozi

2Clt Laozi bianhua jing

2C lt Celestial Masters (tianshi)

215 recognition of Tianshi church by emperor Cao Cao

365-70 Revelation of the Great Purity (shangqing) scriptures

737 Daodejing is declared a "classic" and officially taught

Daozang = Taoist canon

philosophical vs. religious Taoism "has no significance" (3)

Goals of early Taoists

techniques of ecstasy and mystical experiences

longevity

immortality

improve health

magical powers

withdrawal

hygiene

breathing

gymnastics

sexual practices

Dao

way, method, rule of life, process, "Ultimate Truth" (26)

Yuanqi = primordial breath of creation

Taiyi = the Supreme One