Part 1: Historical Overview 1. Approaching Daoism 2. The Daoist Tradition Part 2: The Daoist Worldview 3. Ways to Affiliation 4. Community and Social Organization 5. Informing Views and Foundational Concerns 6. Cosmogony, Cosmology, and Theology 7. Virtue, Ethics and Conduct Guidelines Part 3: Daoist Practice 8. Dietetics 9. Health and Longevity Practice 10. Meditation 11. Scriptures and Scripture Study 12. Ritual Part 4: Place, Sacred Space and Material Culture 13. Temples and Sacred Sites 14. Material Culture Part 5: Daoism in the Modern World 15. Daoism in the Modern World
An introduction to Daoism as a living and lived religion, covering key themes and topics as well as its history.
Louis Komjathy is Associate Professor of Chinese Religions and Comparative Religious Studies at the University of San Diego, USA. He also serves as Founding Co-Chair of the Daoist Studies Group of the American Academy of Religion and as Founding Co-Director of the Center for Daoist Studies.
Louis Komjathy has composed a comprehensive description of Daoism
which combines an abundance of factual information with fresh
insights and innovative concepts ... [His] book, based on solid
scholarship and personal engagement with the Daoist tradition, is
the most comprehensive introduction to Daoism currently
available.
*Journal of Chinese Religions*
Komjathy’s book depicts a number of linked but distinct Daoisms,
rather than only a single, uniform tradition, by structuring his
presentation in terms of both multiple historical periodizations
and various overlapping “models of practice and attainment” in
which various Daoist practitioners participate across historical
periods . . . As a first look at a complex and diverse set of
traditions, [Komjathy’s] book may be the best of its kind and
certainly replaces treatments published prior to the twenty-first
century.
*Religious Studies Review*
The strength of this book is that Komjathy has immersed himself
within the living tradition of Daoism and is able to provide us
with detailed accounts of the many factions within the community,
the various systems of religious leadership and transmission, the
different collections of scripture and the traditional sacred
places. It would be difficult to find a more comprehensive account
of any of the better known religious traditions.
*Religions of South Asia*
Louis Komjathy has written a masterpiece. It is detailed,
insightful and authoritative, and is simply the best guide to
Daoism that is available today.
*James Miller, Associate Professor of Chinese Religions at Queen’s
University, Canada*
The Daoist Tradition: an Introduction, by Louis Komjathy, offers a
clear, unbiased, and comprehensive description of Daoism (Taoism)
from its roots in ancient China up to a plethora of modern
interpretations, from within as well as outside of the Chinese
cultural context. By using a “thematic” approach, scholarly as well
as popular sources are treated with objective balance, without
favoritism or bias. The “philosophy” vs. “superstition” dichotomy
favored by 19h century missionaries and 20h century agnostics
clearly does not to represent the Daoist Family inside China. The
contemporary world is deeply influenced by Daoism, both within
China, as well as throughout the “West” and modern Asia. Highly
recommended for the general reader, as well as dedicated
scholars.
*Michael Saso, Professor Emeritus, University of Hawaii, USA*
Louis Komjathy has presented us with a comprehensive history of
Daoism that demonstrates once and for all that it is a tradition
that--while multifarious--contains important themes, ideas, and
practices that demonstrate a continuous development from the
classical period to the modern world. Finally, a completely
integrated history of Daoism that breaks the half century hegemony
of the outmoded scholarly view that this tradition is deeply
bifurcated, a religion that completely departs from the texts it
claims as its foundations.
*Harold Roth, Professor of Religious Studies at Brown University,
USA*
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