Major Issues on Daoism - Essay Example

Daoism Why do you think the Daoist master Du Guangtung wrote the Records of the Assembled Transcendents of the Fortified Wall City? Why did he give it to the ruling emperor? What does the book reveal about Daoism, the state and women during the Tang Dynasty? The Daoist master Du Guangtung wrote the Records of the Assembled Transcendent of the Fortified City to edit, organize, and save most of the scriptural heritage of the Shang Ching (Cahill 44). He established orthodox versions of the texts for preservation. Du Guangtung also wanted to recommend Taoism to the royal patrons under his leadership and testify how his faith was effective in times of disorder (Cahill 78). For instance, Du Guangtung created his account using the west queen mother by selecting, re-writing, and combining various texts from the old literature. Some of the sources used by Du Guangtung to record the assembled transcendent of the fortified wall city include; Taoist, Buddhism, historical, classical and other popular sources; which retained his personal tradition of precedence work (Cahill 107). Du’s work is considered allusive and condensed. For instance, his first records are about a queen mother’s biography. The writings express the queen’s primacy in lineage and power. This account is one of the beneficial sources of Du Guangtung, which gives a complete account of the perceptions Taoists have about goddesses (Cahill 146). Du Guangtung gave the Records of the Assembled Transcendent of the Fortified City to the ruling emperor because he was attempting to associate the imperial government with Daoism. The Tang emperor was finally influenced by Daoism (Cahill 144). For instance, Bian’s story is publicized to honor the agreement by recording his transcendence. The book reveals that the founders of Tang Dynasty were sisters who were mothers of Emperor Yang of Sui. These sisters ruled two emperors of different dynasties. From the beginning, Daoism played a major role in the politics of Tang. Li Yuan bid for power by attracting followers through the claim for Daoist and Laozi descents (Bokenkamp 204). Individuals who were bidding for office had to involve monks from Buddhist temples to pray for them openly and they were paid cash donations in return. Buddhism and Daoism were accepted in the Tang Dynasty before Buddhists faced persecution in the 9th Century. Daoism’s spectacular success brought about the reunification of Tang Dynasty. Li Yuan, the founder of the kingdom, became more influential and successful after he was deferred of messianic prophecy by Maoshan Daoists (Bokenkamp 212). This notion was accepted in the state ideology whereby the emperor ended up being called the Sage. Prospective candidates chosen to work in the civil service had to go through an examination in the classic of salvation (Lingbao) or the classic of the yellow court (Maoshan). Thereafter, patriarchal celebrations had to follow. Daoism dominated the religious life of the Tangs. Sima Chengzhen who was one of the greatest leader of the age initiated a big number of government leaders as well as renowned men to serve as spiritual leaders to the respective emperors (Bokenkamp 217). Later on, after the approval of sacred peaks of the imperial cult by Sima Chengzhen, sponsored shrines were erected for each of the peak and the propitiation of the peaks was included in the traditional rites. The women’s roles during the Tang Dynasty were basically to marry, raise families, and run households. Women of this dynasty were also involved in weaving, spinning, and textile production among other home activities (Cahill, 221). The dynasty also had peasant women who kept livestock and cultivated farms. Upper class women attained influential positions of being wives or concubines to elite men in the society. Empress Wu Zetian was the most influential and powerful woman of the Tang Dynasty. She began her career as a royal concubine to emperor T’ai Tsung before attaining favourism from his son Kao Tsung; making her to be named the empress (Cahill 222). Zetian used her position to eradicate political enemies and rivals mercilessly. She consolidated her powers and remained a virtual ruler of China for 32 years. During this period, she ruled in the name of Emperor Kao Tsung who was sick (Cahill 231). Other notable women of the period were poets. For example, Courtgesan Xue Tao was a poet scholar who became prestigious and famous during the Dynasty. Most of her poems remained extended till the 9th century and some are even renowned to date. Yu Xuanji was yet another Taoist adept and a teacher (Cahill 234). She wrote poetry of literary circle during her time. Upper class women enjoyed favors, which were enjoyed by upper class men. Some of these favors included riding horses up to full gallop, hinting, and playing polo among others. Imagine you are the anonymous Ming Dynasty author of Seven Daoist Masters. You have just been exposed as the author and have been criticized by your fellow literary official for writing such popular drive. Write a letter to another scholar in Ming Dynasty that describes why you wrote the book. Use historical and social contexts, the works intended audiences and your knowledge of Daoist schools and practice at the time to make your letter convincing. Dear fellow scholar at Ming Dynasty, may I respond to your criticism regarding my book Seven Daoist Masters. I would like to give an explanation for writing this controversial text. First and foremost, you must understand that history and legend cannot be separated. My book entertains and instructs on matters regarding history and legend. The book describes six men and a woman who go through great hardships while on a journey to self- actualization and mastery. The characters in the book are students and their teacher who represent historical figures that lived in the Southern Sung. The novel is about Wang Ch’ang, which means the rebirth of Yang or in other words the rejuvenation of both the body and mind. The story is viewed as one of the supreme patriarch school of true reality. The seven Taoists described in the novel are from the Taosim School in the North. This particular branch of Taoism supported the singular path where meditation and chi-kung exercises are attained through immortality and enlightenment processes. The processes are associated with Buddhism and Taoist sects. The novel describes how one of the seven masters by the name Ch’iu Ch’ang-ch’un started the Dragon gate; one of the most regarded Taoism sect in history. The seven Taoist master’s described in the story represent a combination of history and myth in the most pleading way to the reader of the work to conform to the pedagogy of story telling in Taoism so as to coach as reachable reading from an intuitive perspective rather than a text read analytically. Wang Ch’ung-Yang, the main character in the story, is depicted to have been approached by two immortals who are Chung-li Ch’uan and Lu. The immortals were dressed in tatters, and their mission was to convert mortals into immortals of the Taoists before the immortal preach flowers. The immortals were supposed to do this so that the Heaven Empress would have helpers. Taoism emphasizes immortality as compared to Buddhism, which emphasizes reincarnation. Taoism strives to achieve immortality through transforming the body and soul, personal sacrificing of the apprentice and internal alchemy among other means. I have used Wang Chung-yang experiences in my book as a bridge to discuss situations and attitudes that Taoists used to train; as well as the obstructions experienced during the enlightenment period. The seven Taoist masters’ stand for the various approaches used to reach the Tao. Each of the masters undergoes is expected to negotiate on ways of overcoming the obstacles on their way to the achievement of enlightenment. I used this exact theology of Taoism to bring out the aspect of belief that people’s actions can change destinies, and that rewards and retribution are given to one depending on his or her behavior. Master Wang is the main catalyst which has been used to develop the plot of the story as well as to guide the upcoming Taoist students. I have addressed master Wang as a human being, as an instructor, and as a representative of the Tao. Through him, I have explored the Tao’s process of becoming immortal. Master Wang represents the ideal current man. I have depicted him as rich money that is learned in the traditional arts and a politician at some point. Wang leaves to study martial art; this picture represents a renaissance man. Wang is depicted as a kind man with an impressive resume. The desirable qualities attributed to Wang portray the desirable qualities of Taoist tradition and the Chinese history at large. Wang founded Tao as a result of good fortune under the guidance of two crucial immortals who taught him wisely. This way, Wang found a path of isolating himself from the world to start practicing internal alchemy. I have brought out my story intuitively in that for one to attain Tao will lead one to loose desires and other attachments. This is crucial because the same way if you want to learn Tao, you must want or have the drive to do so. In this aspect I am trying to bring out the idea that for one to desire immortality; it is as a result of life and its attachments. This is the reason why some people can attain Tao while others cannot. Motivations play a crucial role in attaining Tao. For instance, the faking of master Wang’s stroke to enable him practice internal alchemy puts him in a sense of favoring his family and himself. He has sacrificed to detach himself so that he can achieve his goal of immortality. This way, he prepares his family and friends for the forthcoming immortal times because he will be no longer part of them. I have demonstrated this situation this way to help the readers understand the role played by motivation in changing one’s situation. Master Wang and his followers are living under Tao. The more current, but unserious metaphor in these two groups of people is that they are both zombies of Tao. They are no longer attached to their selves, but live in Tao and are filled of Tao spirit. Tao has possessed them. By Author of the Seven Daoist Masters Compare and contrast the following Daoist scriptures from the bokencamp book. “the upper scripture of purple texts inscribed by the spirits” and “the wondrous scripture of the upper chapters on limitless salvation”. Consider historical, social and religious context as well as Daoist schools, authorship, audience, teachings, beliefs and practices. “The upper scripture of purple texts inscribed by the spirits” is a mystical text dating 317–420 in the Jin kingdom. The kingdom is one of China’s six dynasties of the period 222-589 (Bokenkamp 22). The scripture was drafted when the Daoism influenced purifications of alchemy, soteriology of Buddhism, apocalyptic imaginaries among other strict meditative practices, which influenced the development of the religion. Yang Xi transcribed the document from 330 to 386 (Bokenkamp 29). He later on presented it to his patrons who preserved and passed it on to other generations. According to this scripture, dreams dealing with ‘Transcended’ or ‘Perfected’ beings show a healthy orientation on a wandering Hun, and it should be encouraged among all. According to this scripture, every person automatically goes to the spirit world during sleep time. This is an important moment when one’s mind detaches from the five senses till the person wakes up. During sleep time, an individual’s consciousness leaves the ordinary physical state and goes into delicate magical heights of the spirit world. There is a mind acquired, and it is planned to distinguish between the sleeping and waking state. “The wondrous scripture of the upper chapters on limitless salvation”, on the other hand, is one of the influential and famous scripture among the scriptures of the Lingbao corpus. The scripture was the first one to be acquired among the Dao people after the interpretation of the Laozi scriptures. This was among the three scriptures studied by the Daos for examination of Daoist investiture (Chung-yuan 54). The two scriptures describe religion as an ideal system highlighting the main gears of religion and interrelates the gears to one another (Chung-yuan 78). The scriptures attribute religion to have a lot of rituals and ethics, which transcendent and symbolize authority. The two scriptures present a discussion on how Daoists attributed value to their ancestral artifacts despite the fact that each scripture presents different vessels. “The upper scripture of purple texts inscribed by the spirits” explain how human beings possess some basic ideas, which are engrained in their cultures and usually habituated at their tender age within themselves. Despite this fact, most of us are not aware that they possess these ideas that comprise the nature of the universe; like competition and time (Bokenkamp 139). As a result of lack of awareness in possessing these ideas, human beings get to understand their surrounding by comparing their cultures to other people’s cultures. The scripture urges human beings to avoid falling into specific extreme orientalism of a past era, which differentiated eastern cultures with specific exoticism by developing awareness that every person is an examiner who should bring prior conceived ideas into the China’s historical examination (Bokenkamp 154). To achieve this objective, man needs to recognize his present situation and consider himself as a researcher of this particular culture. The scripture has also enquired about the origin of man. For instance, an essay written about the nature of man and the debate about an original person by Yüan Jen Lun is among the best known literature on the modern teachings about Daoism. The literature was written during the giving of the yellow robe in 828 and its downfall in 835. “The upper scripture of purple texts inscribed by the spirits” discusses how food was set as a sacrifice to the ancestral spirits and gods during certain festive seasons like the Qingming festive. The sacrifice had to involve slaughtering an animal like a duck, pig or even offering fruits. Burning of Hell Bank Notes and joss paper was yet another form of sacrifice practiced by Daoists. The burnt sacrifices assumed that the fire consumed the images, but the images will reappear sometimes later in the spirit world as actual item and not as mere images. This action will avail the items to the revered ancestors and the deceased. The scripture outlines the taking place of street parades as lovely affairs, which involved singing traditional music, fire cracking, and covering floats with flowers. Dragon and lion dances were also part of the event (Bokenkamp 189). People occupied puppets could cut themselves with knives as a sign of honor in the makeup of demons. Every participant of the event was not considered a performer, but rather a possession of he gods. “The wondrous scripture of the upper chapters on limitless salvation” is presented as an exemplary genre of supreme clarity scriptures (Chung-yuan 212). It is purported to be an authentic communicator, which starts from highest levels and narrows down to grassroots level. The higher level include divine realms who are instructed on means of attaining spiritual perfection while grass root level can include chief priests who are taught on how grow up spiritually upright to inherit divine realms from supreme clarities in the future (Chung-yuan 224). For a long period of time, Daoism or Taoism has taken a crucial role in developing Chinese civilization and thought, but little has been done in translating this work into English language (Bokenkamp 296). Bokenkamp is the first author to introduce the reader to ancient scriptures like “the upper scripture of purple texts inscribed by the spirits” and “the wondrous scripture of the upper chapters on limitless salvation” among others scriptures never published before in Western civilizations (Bokenkamp 302). The scriptures have provided systematic understanding of Daoism. Bokenkamp has elucidated the connections Daoism holds with other schools of thought like Buddhism and Confucianism through his ancient scriptures. Works Cited Bokenkamp, Stephen. Early Daoist Scriptures. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1997. Print. Cahill, Suzanne E. Divine Traces of the Daoist Sisterhood:Records of the Assembled Transcendents of the Fortified Walled City, by Du Guangting (850-933). New York: three Pines Press. 2006. Print.   Chung-yuan, Chang. Creativity and Taoism, A Study of Chinese Philosophy, Art, and Poetry. New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1963/1970. Print. Read More