The Contemplative Foundations of Classical Daoism / Harold D. Roth.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Roth, Harold David.

Contributor:

ProQuest ebook central.

Series:

SUNY series in Chinese philosophy and culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Meditation--Taoism.

Meditation.

Taoism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource.

polychrome

Other Title:

Classical Daoism

Place of Publication:

Albany : State University of New York Press, [2021]

System Details:

text file

Summary:

In The Contemplative Foundations of Classical Daoism, Harold D. Roth explores the origins and nature of the Daoist tradition, arguing that its creators and innovators were not abstract philosophers but, rather, mystics engaged in self-exploration and self-cultivation, which in turn provided the insights embodied in such famed works as the Daodejing and Zhuangzi. In this compilation of essays and chapters representing nearly thirty years of scholarship, Roth examines the historical and intellectual origins of Daoism and demonstrates how this distinctive philosophy emerged directly from practices that were essentially contemplative in nature.In the first part of the book, Roth applies text-critical methods to derive the hidden contemplative dimensions of classical Daoism. In the second part, he applies a "contemplative hermeneutic" to explore the relationship between contemplative practices and classical Daoist philosophy and, in so doing, brings early Daoist writings into conversation with contemporary contemplative studies. To this he adds an introduction in which he reflects on the arc and influence on the field of early Chinese thought of this rich vein of scholarship and an afterword in which he applies both interpretive methods to the vexing question of the authorship of the Inner Chapters of the Zhuangzi. The Contemplative Foundations of Classical Daoism brings to fruition the cumulative investigations and observations of a leading figure in the emerging field of contemplative studies as they pertain to a core component of early Chinese thought.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

List of Tables

Acknowledgments

Permissions

Introduction

Part I: Contemplative Foundations and Textual Methods

Part II: Contemplative Foundations and Philosophical Contexts

Chapter 1 Psychology and Self-Cultivation in Early Daoistic Thought

The Guanzi Texts

"Neiye" ("Inward Training")

"Xinshu shang" (The Techniques of the Mind, Part I)

"Xinshu xia" (Techniques of the Mind, Part II)

The Huainanzi

Human Nature

The Physiological Basis of Human Experience

The Vital Essence

Concluding Remarks

Did a Syncretist Author Compile the Zhuangzi?

"Textual Shuffling" in the Syncretist Zhuangzi

The Zhuangzi at Huainan

The Date of Compilation of the Zhuangzi

Final Conclusions

Chapter 3 Redaction Criticism and the Early History of Daoism

Some Hypotheses on the Early History of Daoism

Four Daoist Essays in the Guanzi

Linguistic Data for Comparative Dating

The Structure of "Xinshu xia"

Redaction Strategies and the Ideology of "Xinshu xia"

Redaction Strategies in the Borrowed Material

Ideological Emendations

Notes:

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI Available via World Wide Web.

Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on May 12, 2021).

Other Format:

Print version:

ISBN:

9781438482729

1438482728

Publisher Number:

40030527014

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.