1,720,962 research outputs found
Longmen Institutional Development in Zhejiang Province: The Chongdao Lineage of the Tongbai Palace during the Eighteenth Century
No full textThis article aims to advance research on the history of Longmen communities in Zhejiang during the Qing dynasty by focusing on the institutional network established by the Daoists of the Tongbai Palace (Tiantai county) in the eighteenth century. To do so, I have relied on the study of the socio-institutional links between Daoist temples and analyzed an array of historical sources (gazetteers, Daoist texts, palace memorials) to individuate connections between the Longmen temples of Zhejiang. I focus on the four leading members of the Longmen community of the Tongbai Palace (Gao Qingyu, Min Yide, Shen Yibing, and Fang Yiding) to show that this temple had a key position in the network formed among prominent temples inhabited by Longmen communities, such as the Jingu Grotto of Hangzhou, the Dayou Palace of Mount Weiyu, and the Yunchao Temple of Mount Jin’gai.This article aims to advance research on the history of Longmen communities in Zhejiang during the Qing dynasty by focusing on the institutional network established by the Daoists of the Tongbai Palace (Tiantai county) in the eighteenth century. To do so, I have relied on the study of the socio-institutional links between Daoist temples and analyzed an array of historical sources (gazetteers, Daoist texts, palace memorials) to individuate connections between the Longmen temples of Zhejiang. I focus on the four leading members of the Longmen community of the Tongbai Palace (Gao Qingyu, Min Yide, Shen Yibing, and Fang Yiding) to show that this temple had a key position in the network formed among prominent temples inhabited by Longmen communities, such as the Jingu Grotto of Hangzhou, the Dayou Palace of Mount Weiyu, and the Yunchao Temple of Mount Jingai
The Tongbai Palace and Its Daoist Communities: A History.
Get PDFDaoism, at its core, is a religion: a way of interpreting the cosmos. Historically, Daoism evolved by incorporating elements of diverse religious traditions and maintained a dialectical relationship with Chinese society as a whole, affecting the worldviews, value systems and practices of all social classes. Daoist temples synthetically and syncretically embody the successive stages of Daoist history. This book studies the history of the eminent Tongbai Palace within its natural, cultural, religious and political landscape. It highlights what the temple owed to the significance of its location and the people and deities inhabiting it, while showing how, in turn, it increased their prestige
Social and ritual networks in Southeast China during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
No full textThis article studies the Longmen Daoist communities of the Jiangnan area during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and it focuses especially on the social networks established there in the context of ritual training. The common representation of Quanzhen Daoists, including that of the Longmen branch, describes them as eminently interested in self-cultivation. This idea is not unfounded, but the analysis of coeval sources, produced both within and outside the Daoist milieus, reveals that those Daoists were also proficient ritualists. More importantly, ritual training within these communities appears to have sometimes relied on Daoist masters initiated both into the Longmen and the Zhengyi traditions as liturgical teachers for other Longmen Daoists. The second part of the article expands the focus of the study, suggesting the existence of a link between the regional liturgical traditions of Jiangnan and the broader religious landscape of late imperial China, effectively connecting the ritual curriculum of Longmen Daoists with court Daoism
Praticare la religione durante la pandemia: Mutamenti nella Comunità Evangelica Cinese padovana causati dal COVID
Get PDFEvery Sunday afternoon, many dozens of Chinese migrants from all walks of life gather in a small building located north of the train station in Padua, Italy, at the headquarter of the Chinese Christian Evangelical Church of Italy (Jidujiao yidali huaren jiaohui 基督教義大利華人教會, CCEC), to celebrate a two-hour long ritual, chanting, praising the Lord and listening to a lecture in Mandarin about the Holy Scripture. The focus of this article is the weekly celebration of the CCEC. In particular, I will discuss a few changes that I have observed in the liturgy and in the general organisation of the activities of the CCEC since the outbreak of the COVID pandemic in 2020. The research questions attempt to study how the COVID pandemic has impacted on the Sunday activities of the Church. The results highlight changes in the organisation of the Sunday celebration and in the way religious practice is experienced by part of the audience. The data employed in this article, collected between the years 2019 and 2021, come from previous scholarship, from participant observation and from informal and semi-structured interviews with members of the church
JY 296 Huagai Shan Fuqiu, Wang, Guo san zhenjun shishi 華蓋山浮邱、王、郭三真君事實
No full textStudy and analysis of the "Huagai shan Fuqiu, Wang, Guo san zhenjun shishi". The three immortals of the title are Fuqiu 浮邱, Wang 王 and Guo 郭. The three were worshipped on Mount Huagai 華蓋山 (aka Mount Baogai 寶蓋山) of Fuzhou 撫州 (Jiangxi), but it expanded to eastern Jiangxi (see Hymes, 47-56). This book is an anthology focusing on the Three Immortals and on their cult at Mount Huagai and in the nearby area. The cult of the Three Immortals became very influential starting from the Song dynasty.
The book contains many textual layers that allow the study and reconstruction of the development of the aforementioned cult from a local phenomenon (Fuzhou) to a regional one. Most of the anthology can be dated to the Song dynasty and it deals with the two immortals Wang and Guo, with the geography of Mt. Huagai and of the nearby region and with the miracles performed by the Three Immortals. These parts have the clear intent of providing information on the cult of the Three and of promoting it. This text was canonized as part of the Yongle emperor’s plan of collecting the most significant Daoist scriptures circulating at his time. It was therefore collected by Zhang Yuchu and added to the "Daoist Canon" of the Zhengtong era and later reproduced almost identically in the "Daozang jiyao"
La Trasmissione attraverso il Cuore del Trascendente Celeste.
No full textThis chapter focuses on the translation of part of the Tianxian xinchuan 天仙心傳, a text with a composite content that deals both with self-cultivation and ritual practice. The Tianxian xinchuan was written between 1832 and 1834 and it is included in Min Yide’s 閔一得 anthology of Daoist texts Gu shuyinlou cangshu 古書隱樓藏書. Its teachings were reportedly transmitted by Shen Yibing 沈一炳 to his disciple Min Yide and are linked to the figure of Li Niwan 李泥丸, a mythical transcendent. This text is related to the content of other works contained in Min Yide’s anthology, such as the Tianxian daocheng baoze 天仙道程寶則, the Tianxian jieji xuzhi 天仙戒忌須知, the Er Lan xinhua 二懶心話 and the Taiyi jinhua zongzhi 太一金華宗旨. The portion translated here is Min Yide’s commentary to the section entitled “Internal Chapter” and it focuses on what was considered the highest level of self-cultivation of his tradition
JY 193 Taigong yinfu jing 太公陰符經
No full textStudy and analysis of the "Taigong yinfu jing". This text is a late addition to the "Chongkan Daozang jiyao" 重刊道藏輯要 and there are no known earlier editions: it is plausible that its compilation was also rather late. There is no indication of the community or tradition that compiled it. The little information that can be gathered about this text’s origins and history is mostly found in the anonymous preface
The Chan Immortal and the Tongbai Palace: How Imperial Patronage and Chan Buddhism Shaped the History of a Daoist Temple at the Beginning of the Eighteenth Century
Get PDFRecent scholarship often mentions the lack of imperial patronage in favour of Daoism during the Qing dynasty compared to previous eras. In this context, Shizong’s patronage of the Tongbai Palace, the most famous Daoist temple of Tiantai county (Zhejiang), during the second half of his reign is very significant. Since the late Ming dynasty, this temple was in disrepair also due to the local elite families taking possession of its land. Therefore, at the end of the Kangxi era, what remained of the Tongbai Palace was a dilapidated temple known as the Qingfeng Shrine, guarded by a lonely Daoist called Fan Qingyun. Given these premises, Shizong’s patronage of the Tongbai Palace is even more remarkable and deserves investigation.
In recent years, scholars have made important contributions to the study of the history of the Tongbai Palace and of Daoism in general during the Qing dynasty. This article analyses Shizong’s patronage of the restoration of the Tongbai Palace in relation to the initiatives in favour of Chan Buddhism that he himself organized at court. I have focused on four main issues: (1) Shizong’s patronage of the Tongbai Palace and other Daoist temples in the Taizhou prefecture was related to the cult of Zhang Boduan; (2) the emperor’s interest in Zhang Boduan was related to his commitment to Chan; (3) the Buddhist activities and editorial enterprises organized at court since 1733, including the new edition of the Buddhist Canon, all developed from Shizong’s peculiar religious perspective; and (4) the restoration of the Tongbai Palace was not in itself an act of imperial patronage of Daoism, or of the “doctrine of the Three Teachings.” Instead, it is rooted in the specific religious and historical setting characterized by Shizong’s support of Chan Buddhism and of the “Exoteric Collection” from Zhang Boduan’s Wuzhen pian
Personal Quest and Anomic Events: Conversions to Daoism in Late Imperial China
No full textThis article presents the results of a preliminary study of the discourses on conversion found in Daoists’ biographies of the Ming and Qing dynasties. It first provides definitions of religion and conversion, inspired by Psychology and Sociology of Religion and by Religion Studies, then introduces the idea of anomic events, moments of growing tension(s) leading to a life-altering turning point. Next, it presents episodes taken from late-imperial primary sources that describe the pro- cesses leading people from different social classes to join a Daoist institution, study Daoist practice, and/or to live a Daoist-inspired life. Instead of attempting to recover data on the “actual” process of conversion, this article focuses on under- standing how the authors and general society made sense of, and reported on, conversions to Daoism. Finally, the article outlines a tentative taxonomy of the factors influencing conversion in the historical account and explains how contemporary scholarship on conversion agrees with some of the intuitions found in the biographies
- …
