In late classical and early medieval China, ascetics strove to become transcendents--deathless beings with supernormal powers. Practitioners developed dietetic, alchemical, meditative, gymnastic, sexual, and medicinal disciplines (some of which are still practiced today) to perfect themselves and thus transcend death. Narratives of their achievements circulated widely. Ge Hong (283-343 c.e.) collected and preserved many of their stories in his Traditions of Divine Transcendents, affording us a window onto this extraordinary response to human mortality. Robert Ford Campany's...
In late classical and early medieval China, ascetics strove to become transcendents--deathless beings with supernormal powers. Practitioners developed...
This first Western-language translation of one of the great books of the Daoist religious tradition, the Taiping jing, or Scripture on Great Peace, documents early Chinese medieval thought and lays the groundwork for a more complete understanding of Daoism s origins. Barbara Hendrischke, a leading expert on the Taiping jing in the West, has spent twenty-five years on this magisterial translation, which includes notes that contextualize the scripture s political and religious significance. Virtually unknown to scholars until the 1970s, the Taiping jing raises the hope for...
This first Western-language translation of one of the great books of the Daoist religious tradition, the Taiping jing, or Scripture on Great Pe...
