3 pages essay
Damond
Week6_Religious_Daoism.pptxReligious Daoism
I. Quest for Immortality and long, healthy life
Early immortality cults (First Emperor, Qin Shihuangdi)
Contradicts Lao-Zhuang (see Zhuangzi on death)
Idea of the “Xian” 仙 “Immortal”
Attained immortality
Can stay on earth
Appear and disappear
Zhuangzi’s description: live on mountains, feed on wind, sip the dew, and experience ecstatic flight
A. External Alchemy (waidan 外丹)
Elixirs of life
Chemistry, scientific discoveries
Injest substances
lead, mercury (cinnebar), gold
People die, including emperors
Earthly death, live in heaven
B. Inner Alchemy (neidan 內丹)
Natural methods
Elixir is inside you
Balance Yin and Yang
Nurture qi 氣
Wide influence across Chinese culture
1. Breathing exercises, meditation
Meditation
Relaxation
Conserve and nurture Qi 氣
2. Gymnastic exercises
Taiji quan
Gentle Martial arts
Yoga, various calisthenics
Nurture Qi
Reduce stress
3. Dietetics
Food: balance Yin and Yang
Avoid grains
Medicine
Balance yin and yang in body
In balance with outside, weather, etc.
Herbs
Nurture Qi
4. Sexual Practices
Conserve Yang essence
How?
Gain Yin essence (from woman)
Woman’s yin inexhaustible
Man’s yang can be depleted
How get woman’s yin essence?
Various methods
Mental and physical
Sex Manuals, “Art of the Bedchamber”
Common throughout history
Ethics
Commandments of Lord Lao:
Basic ethics: no killing, stealing, etc.
Ecological consciousness
Withdrawal from society
Ge Hong: merit system
Accumulation of good deeds
300 earthbound immortal
1200 celestial immortal
III. Supernatural Beings
From popular religion
People who died (esp. violently), ancestors, trees, nature
Daoism absorbs = umbrella religion
Hierarchy of spirits
Daoist gods at top (Yellow Emperor, Laozi)
Suppress some, promote others
Revival today:
Consult priests for:
Burial
Marriage
house construction (related to fengshui)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtsj23KQIsA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtWzf0QeZaI
