Courses

EALL/RS 350
Introduction to Taoism

Fall 2005 / MWF 1:20 pm / Van Hise 115

Outline | Modules | Required Texts | Evaluation | EALL/RS 350 Schedule

Outline

This course covers the development of Daoism (a.k.a. Taoism) in China from Laozi through the Celestial Masters. It incorporates a modular approach in order to emphasize the fact that radically different ideas and practices are identified by the term “Daoism” at various times in China’s history. The modules reflect phases in the historical development of Daoism, but each module also seeks to address some of the fundamental issues in the study of Daoist traditions, such as mysticism and the use of contradiction, immortality, meditation, or skepticism and knowledge.

For historical reasons, the course may be taken for three or four credits. Undergraduate non-majors and graduate students take the course for three credits, while undergraduate majors take it for four credits. Taking the course for four credits entails attending an additional weekly section meeting on Fridays, and writing weekly summaries of an additional reading assignment. In one alternate Friday section meeting, the focus will be on comparative religion by reading secondary sources in English. This section is primarily intended for, but not limited to, Religious Studies majors. In the second alternate Friday section meeting, the readings will be short annotated passages in Chinese, and so participation requires a basic reading knowledge of Chinese. This section is primarily intended for, but not limited to, EALL majors.

This course is devoted to the in-depth study of a linked set of religious traditions that are likely rather new to many students taking it. Initially, the terminology and unique cultural assumptions of Daoist traditions may seem daunting. Remember that while the object is to learn the history of Daoism, even more valuable will be the experience of trying to understand underlying issues such as: “Why was daily life organized in the way it was?” or “What accounts for the difference between my assumptions about the meaning of life and those of the author of this work?”

Modules

I. Mysticism and the Laozi

II. The cosmology of the Zhuangzi

III. Shamanism and healing

IV. The Han dynasty synthesis

V. Medieval Daoism and the Shangqing tradition

VI. Late Imperial Daoism and the Quanzhen tradition

Required Texts

-The following texts are available at the University Bookstore:

LZ

Philip Ivanhoe, trans., The Daodejing of Laozi. ( New York: Seven Bridges, 2002)

RPA

Mark Csikszentmihalyi and Philip Ivanhoe, eds., Religious and Philosophical Aspects of the Laozi. (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1999)

TET

Russell Kirkland, Taoism: The Enduring Tradition. ( New York: Routledge, 2004)

ZZ

Victor Mair, trans. Wandering on the Way. (New York: Bantam Books, 1994)

EDS

Stephen Bokenkamp, Early Daoist Scriptures. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999)

STM

Eva Wong, trans., Seven Taoist Masters. (Boston: Shambhala, 1999).

-The following text will be available from the Social Science Copy Center:

CR

EALL/RS 350 Course Reader

- The following text is an excellent reference, and will be on reserve:

Livia Kohn, ed. Handbook of Daoism.

All of the above will be on reserve at Helen C. White library. It is nevertheless highly recommended that you get your own copies of the paperbacks listed above, and the Course Reader. If you are taking the course for four credits, then you will get weekly handouts that you will be charged for (copying costs only) at the end of the semester.

Evaluation

-Grades for three credit students will be computed as follows:

1.Close reading papers, 9/19, 10/16, 12/7 (3@ 10% = 30%)

For each close reading, students are expected to write 500-1000 words interpreting a selected passage from one of a primary text read in a just completed unit. On Monday 9/12 some models of close readings will be distributed.

2.Midterm exams: 10/3, 10/31 (2 @ 20% = 40%)

These exams will cover the material from the prior unit or units, but the second midterm will not cover treated on the previous midterm. Since the study of Daoism introduces many terms and names, (1) a historical chronology and (2) a list of important terms are part of the course reader. The list should serve as a guide to the names and terms that might require identification on the midterms. The midterms will also include essay questions. Readings, lectures and discussion are the best guide to prepare for the essay questions.

3. Attendance (10%)

Students one or fewer absence will get the full ten percent. After the first absence, each class missed costs one percent. While there are no excused absences, students may make up half a percent by writing a 250 word summary of the reading on the day missed. If a student misses ten classes, regardless of any summaries written, that is an automatic fail.

4. Final (20%)

The final will be cumulative, and be on Tuesday December 20 at 5:05 p.m.

Grades for four credit students will be computed in much the same way, except that instead of midterms, the four credit students will be graded 20% on section participation and 20% on two 10% papers (500-1000 words) on topics to be distributed, due on the days of the midterms. Rough drafts will be read provided they are submitted 24 hours before you want them back, and that they have been proofread. Papers are expected to have proper citations in an accepted style. Make sure you know what constitutes plagiarism and avoid it.

Final grades will determined according to the following numerical scale:

92-100 = A, 88-92 = AB, 82-88 = B,

78-82 = BC, 72-78 = C, 68-72 = CD,

60-68 = D, 0-60 = F

Caveat on method

Of course, from the point of view of some of the texts we will study, concern with evaluation is pedantic and empty. On the other hand, this is an academic course and the UW System brags that a college degree increases annual income by eighteen grand. Go figure. Although I sincerely wish this were not the case, teaching a course that takes seriously the notion that truth is ineffable (i.e., it cannot be expressed in words) in the context of a university enmeshed in a logocentric and perniciously materialistic society such as our own is not really possible. As a wishful tip of the hat to that notion, though, a poem will be read or a song played at the start of each class (“Three in the morning!” mutters Zhuangzi phlegmatically).

With what the four credit sections shall be concerned

Religious Studies section: The statement that Daoism is a religion is already implicitly comparative. Because the notion of “religion” was modeled on European phenomena, by saying that Daoism fits that description we are saying it resembles European religions. Does this mean that it is not a philosophy, a social theory, or a superstition? Or, alternatively, is it possible that these categories do not make any sense when applied to a non-European context? This section will focus on comparisons between other traditions and Daoism, as well as on the process of comparison itself.

Chinese section: Most of what we know about the history of Daoism comes from texts, and the task of interpreting these texts is at the center of understanding Daoist traditions. Hermeneutics is the self-conscious study of how texts are interpreted, not unlike watching yourself (and others) read. By looking at passages from the texts involved, we will not only be trying to understand what they say, but also what the process of reading and interpreting must have been like in Daoist communities across history.

EALL/RS 350 Schedule

Introductory meeting

 1. (Friday, September 2, 2005) Outline of the course

Admin: Distribute syllabus, organization of four credit sections

Reading : TET 1-19

Module I. Mysticism and the Laozi

2. (Wednesday, September 7, 2005) Laozi’s Classic of Dao

Reading : LZ xv-xxxii, 1-37; RPA 161-170

*3. (Friday, September 9, 2005) Laozi’s Classic of De

Reading : LZ 41-84; RPA 239-253

*First meeting of the additional sections for four credit students

4. (Monday, September 12, 2005) Mysticism. . .

Reading : TET 20-33, 37-67, RPA 59-96

Admin: Distribute “How to do a close reading,” close reading #1 assignment

5. (Wednesday, September 14, 2005) . . . or mystification?

Reading : Peter Moore “Mysticism [Further Considerations]” [CR], RPA 33-58

*6. (Friday, September 16, 2005) Western readings of the Laozi

Reading : Benjamin Hoff, “The Tao of Who?”; Hardy, “Influential Western Interpretations of the Tao-te-ching”; Steve Bradbury, “The American Conquest of Philosophical Taoism” [CR]

*additional section for four credit students

Module II. The cosmology of the Zhuangzi

7. (Monday, September 19, 2005) The Zhuangzi and its context

Reading : ZZ 50-65, TET 33-37

Admin: Close reading #1 due

8. (Wednesday, September 21, 2005) Perspectivism

Reading : ZZ 3-24,144-173, 185-222

*9. (Friday, September 23, 2005) Skillfulness and the Way

Reading : ZZ 25-49, 66-71, 174-184, Joel Kupperman, “The Zhuangzi” [CR]

*additional section for four credit students

10. (Monday, September 26, 2005) The “Outer Chapters”

Reading : ZZ 75-143, Kees Bolle, “Cosmology: An Overview”

11. (Wednesday, September 28, 2005) The “Miscellaneous Chapters”

Reading : ZZ 225-297

*12. (Friday, September 30, 2005) Robber Zhi and Confucius

Reading: ZZ 298-347, Edward Slingerland, “Conceptions of the self in the Zhuangzi: conceptual metaphor analysis and comparative thought”

*additional section for four credit students

13. (Monday, October 3, 2005) Midterm 1

Module III. Shamanism and healing

14. (Wednesday, October 5, 2005) Definitions of Daoism

Reading : Parker, “Taoism”; Schipper “Taoism” [CR]

*15. (Friday, October 7, 2005) Metaphors for Daoism

Reading : Csikszentmihalyi, “Traditional Taxonomies and Revealed Texts in the Han”, Campany, “On the Very Idea of Religions (In the Modern West and Early Medieval China)” [CR]

*additional section for four credit students

16. (Monday, October 10, 2005) Death and the Afterlife

Reading : David Hawkes, trans. “Nine Songs”, Csikszentmihalyi “Demons and Spirits” [CR]

17. (Wednesday, October 12, 2005) Demons

Reading : Csikszentmihalyi “Talismans”, Donald Harper, “Spellbinding” [CR]

Admin: Distribute close reading #2 assignment

*18. (Friday, October 14, 2005) How to control your inner demon

Reading : Donald Harper, “Warring States Natural Philosophy and Occult Thought” [CR]

*additional section for four credit students

Module IV. The Han Dynasty Synthesis

19. (Monday, October 16, 2005) The Way

Reading : Csikszentmihalyi, “The Way” [CR]

Admin: Close reading #2 due

20. (Wednesday, October 18, 2005) Medicine

Reading : Csikszentmihalyi, “Medicine and Divination” [CR]

*21. (Friday, October 20, 2005) Spirits and Healing

Reading : Csikszentmihalyi, “Han cosmology and mantic practices”

*additional section for four credit students

22. (Monday, October 24, 2005) Recipe masters

Reading : Csikszentmihalyi, “Death and Transcendence” [CR]

23. (Wednesday, October 26, 2005) Laozi in the Han

Reading : Csikszentmihalyi, “Laozi” [CR]

*24. (Friday, October 28, 2005) Later versions of Laozi

Reading: Kohn, “ Laozi: Ancient Philosopher, Master of Immortality, and God ”, Kohn, “The Lao-tzu myth” [CR]

*additional section for four credit students

24. (Monday, October 31, 2005) Midterm 2

Module V. Medieval Daoism and the Shangqing Tradition

25. (Wednesday, November 2, 2005) Wang Bi’s reading of the Laozi

Reading : Lynn, “Wang Bi’s commentary to the Laozi (selections)”

26. Friday, (November 4, 2005) The Xiang’er commentary to the Laozi

Reading : EDS 29-65, 78-116

27. (Monday, November 7, 2005) ) Guo Xiang’s reading of the Zhuangzi

Reading : Brackenridge, “An annotated translation of chapter two of the Zhuangzi” [handout]

*additional section for four credit students

28. (Wednesday, November 9, 2005) The arrival of Buddhism in China

Reading : Thompson, “Buddhist Tradition” [CR]

*29. (Friday, November 11, 2005) The Red Eyebrows

Reading : Mark Csikszentmihalyi, “ Religion, Politics, and the Cult of Prince Jing of Chengyang in Han China” [CR]

30. (Monday, November 14, 2005) Daoist Movements and Institutional Daoism

Reading : TET 74-115

*additional section for four credit students

31. (Wednesday, November 16, 2005) The “Commands and Admonitions”

Reading : EDS 149-185

*32. (Friday, November 18, 2005) The Shangqing Revelations

Reading : EDS 114-148

*additional section for four credit students

33. (Monday, November 21, 2005) The “Inner Explanations”

Reading : EDS 186-224

34. (Wednesday, November 23, 2005) The “Declarations of the Perfected”

Reading : Bokenkamp, “Declarations of the Perfected” [CR]

35. (Monday, November 28, 2005) Daoist Precepts

Reading : Kohn, “The Five Precepts of the Venerable Lord” [CR]

36. (Wednesday, November 30, 2005) Elixirs and the Purple Texts

Reading : EDS 275-366

Module VI. Late Imperial Daoism and the Quanzhen Tradition

*37. (Friday, December 2, 2005) Aspects of Later Daoism

Reading : Schipper, “The Masters of the Gods” [CR]

Admin: Distribute close reading #3 assignment

*additional section for four credit students

38. (Monday, December 5, 2005) Monasticism

Reading : Kohn “Introduction”, Eskildsen “Cultivating Health and Longevity” [CR]

39. (Wednesday, December 7, 2005) Seven Daoist Masters

Reading : STM 1-107

Admin: Close reading #3 due

*40. (Friday, December 9, 2005) Syncretism

Reading : STM 108-176

*additional section for four credit students

41. (Monday, December 12, 2005) The social role of the immortals

Reading : Schipper, “The Immortals” [CR]

42. (Wednesday, December 14, 2005) A Modern Temple Ceremony

No reading

Admin: Handout final review sheet