Traditions of Exemplary Transcendents by Liu Xiang (798 BCE) Robert Ford Campany, Sarah M. Allen, Xiaofei Tian.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Campany, Robert Ford, Author.

Contributor:

Allen, Sarah M., editor.

Tian, Xiaofei, editor.

Series:

Library of Chinese Humanities , 2199-966X ;

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (XXXVII, 163 p.)

Place of Publication:

Berlin Boston De Gruyter, [2026]

Language Note:

In English.

Biography/History:

Robert Ford Campany, Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN, USA.

Summary:

By the middle of the third century BCE, some people in China had begun to imagine it possible to employ esoteric methods to refashion themselves into posthuman beings with spirit-like capabilities, enhanced bodies, and greatly extended lifespans. Such beings were termed transcendents (xian). Traditions of Exemplary Transcendents (Liexian zhuan), attributed to the imperial bibliographer Liu Xiang (79-8 BCE), is the earliest extant collection of colorful stories about such figures. This volume makes available a critical edition and the first complete, annotated English translation of a text preserving some of the earliest mentions of alchemical, dietary, and medicinal methods of self-cultivation that later became standard in transcendence-seekers repertoire of practices. Through this work we can already glimpse the sorts of engagements with local communities that made the quest for transcendence a matter of keen interest not just to practitioners themselves but to many in Chinese society for centuries thereafter.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Introduction

Traditions of Exemplary Transcendents

Lower scroll

Additional Notes

Abbreviations

Notes:

This eBook is made available Open Access under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed April 28 2026)

ISBN:

3-11-223688-2