专业英语材料-第四讲IntroductionDaoism and Chinese Culture.docVIP

Daoism and Chinese Culture Livia Kohn，Three Pines Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts Introduction Daoism is the indigenous（本土的） organized religion of traditional China. It is best known in the West as “Taoism” –using an older mode of transliterating Chinese –and as such for its philosophy and health practices. Its philosophy is mainly associated with the notion of “Dao” or “Way”, and involves ideas of naturalness and ease, nonaction and going along with the flow. Its health practices are seen in the context of Taiji quan and Qigong, and involve techniques of deep breathing, slow motion, and gentle stretches伸张. While both philosophy and health practices form an intricate part of Daoism and play an important role in the religion, they are only partial aspects of a large picture, which also includes a social and political vision, elaborate rituals复杂的宗教仪式 and priestly hierarchies僧侣阶层, protective talismans 护身符and exorcistic（驱魔的） spells, as well as advanced spiritual meditations and ecstatic（狂喜、心醉神迷的） soul travels to the stars. This multifaceted多层次的, complex nature of Daoism has only been recognized recently. Nineteenth-century missionaries, the first Westerners to come in contact with materials considered Daoist, did not see Daoism in this light at all. Rather, when confronted with the ancient texts associated with Laozi and Zhuangzi that expressed the philosophy of Dao, they could not reconcile their being part of the same tradition as religious practitioners performing rituals and self-cultivation exercises. Instead, they were fascinated by the texts and disgusted by the practices. The philosophical works they found subtle and of a high inspirational value. Latinizing the names of Chinese thinkers Kongfuzi into Confucius, Mengzi into Mencius , they created Laocius out of Laozi and integrated his ideas into a Western frame of thought. “Dao” became another expression for God, and the teachings of nonaction and going along with the flow were understood as a way to achieve m