Daoism

Call for Papers

Posted on 27. Jul, 2011 by James Miller in News and Discussions, call for papers, Daoism, HISTORY, journal, religion, Society

Daoism: Religion, History and Society

Call for Papers

While studies on Daoism have grown very fast over the past few decades, they do not have a distinct identity of their own within the larger academic world, and up to now lack a forum where concerned scholars can debate and further define the state and the future of the field. Thus, the Centre for Studies of Daoist Culture (The Chinese University of Hong Kong) and the École française d’Extrême-Orient have joined their efforts in creating this academic journal: Daoism: Religion, History and Society.

daoism and technological innovation

Posted on 14. Feb, 2011 by James Miller in Daoism, ECOLOGY, Innovation, News, technology

As China overtakes Japan to be recognized as the world’s second largest economy, it is inevitable that Chinese religions will undergo change and transformation. But since Marx infamously compared the social function of religion to that of a narcotic, religion has consistently been framed in the modern imagination as backwards, anti-modern, and anti-science. China’s modernizers, likewise, have viewed religion as a problem to be overcome in the quest to build the new China, and their view has become part of the mainstream amongst Chinese youth.

The Way of Poetry

Posted on 06. Oct, 2010 by LvKohn in New Publications, Daoism, ECOLOGY, New World, Poetry

The Way of Poetry, by John Leonard (65 pages)

This concise, potent essay presents a first comprehensive theory of what “Daoist” poetry might involve. Beginning with the vision of the ancient classics and informed by Daoist practice, John Leonard searches through poetry from different cultures to find a class of putatively Daoist poetry outside the Chinese tradition. He then suggests ways to recognise its following of the Way and outlines basic principles and guidelines, also including a number of his own poems.

daoist religion and ecotourism: a visit to maoshan

Posted on 02. Sep, 2010 by James Miller in CHINA, Daoism, ECOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT, Opinion, sustainability

In May this year I had the opportunity to visit Maoshan (Mt. Mao) a Daoist mountain sacred to the Shangqing (Highest Clarity) tradition of Daoism that I studied in my most recent book. Located in Jiangsu province, it is about an hour’s bus ride south of Zhenjiang, a stop on the main high speed railway from Shanghai to Nanjing. I was interested to visit Maoshan not only because of my historical research, but because it was the site of the Maoshan declaration, which in 2008 committed China’s Daoist Association to a ten year program of ecological protection.

AAR Annual Meeting, Atlanta, October 30-November 1, 2010

Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by James Miller in Conference Notice, AAR, Daoism

(1) A30-216 Saturday 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Location: Marriott Marquis - L507
World of an Object: The Social and Cosmic Networks of Daoist Material Culture

Daoist Charities?

Posted on 11. Aug, 2010 by Bill Hulet in Questions about Daoism, Charity, Daoism

Does anyone know of any reputable Daoist charities? I give money once in a while and would like to find a charity that I could give some money to to help either the establishment of Daoism in North America or restore it in China. I gave some money a few years back to the Taoist Restoration Society, and I understand it went to help some nuns buy a set of Daoist scriptures. But since then that charity seems to have gone under. Do any of you guys doing fieldwork know of any good NGOs?

I bow to fellow travelers on the Way---Cloudwalking Owl

Black Tortoise, Red Raven

Posted on 23. Jul, 2010 by Lindegard in Book Covers, comparative religion, Daoism, light fiction, religious quest, woman's perspective
Black Tortoise, Red Raven

Black Tortoise, Red Raven, the sequel to White Tiger, Green Dragon, follows the courageous pilgrimage of a young woman scholar as she travels the length of the Yangtze River. Scholar Li, the daughter of Tu Ming and Shen Tao, flees a revolution in eastern China and travels west with a caravan of rug merchants. A Taoist intellectual and prodigy, the teenager encounters spiritual masters from unfamiliar traditions during her 1,500-mile expedition toward the foothills of the Himalayas.

Women and the Feminine/Yin: Theory, Society, and Practice

Posted on 05. Jul, 2010 by LvKohn in Conference Notice, changsha, Daoism, hunan, nanyue, women
Nanyue (Southern Marchmount), Henan

7th International Conference on Daoist Studies -- Nanyue (Changsha), June 24-28, 2011

The seventh in a series of major conferences on Daoist studies and modern application, this follows a tradition that began in Boston (2003) and continued through Mt. Qingcheng (2004), Fraueninsel in Bavaria (2006), Hong Kong (2007), Mt. Wudang (2009), and Los Angeles (2010).

daoism’s quest for relevance

Posted on 25. Jun, 2010 by James Miller in Daoism, Events, nature, News, Opinion, spirituality

In a Wall Street Journal blog today, Christopher Carothers asks, “Is Daoism is losing its way?” He writes: Today, Buddhism is regaining its traditional place as the largest religion in Chinese society. Islam is expanding through the growth of Muslim families in the Hui and Uyghur minority ethnic groups. Protestantism and Catholicism are winning new converts all over China and shaking off the old label of “foreign religion.” Daoism, on the other hand, seems to be standing still.

new directions in religion and nature

Posted on 08. Jun, 2010 by James Miller in Daoism, ECOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT, Events, Opinion, RESEARCH

I was in LA last weekend to attend the Sixth Annual Conference on Daoist Studies which was organized by my former teacher, Livia Kohn, and LMU Professor Robin Wang. The conference drew the usual mix of academics and practitioners (which was itself the subject of an interesting meta-analysis by Elijah Siegler). My rationale for attending the conference, however, was that one of its focus themes was religion and ecology.