On: “Daoism and Chinese Culture”

A book reflection on “Daoism and Chinese Culture,” by Livia Kohn

I became interested in this book based on the intriguing quotes from the author that were in “A Daoist Practice Journal: Come Laugh With Me” (Michael Rinaldini). I found those quotes to be of great interest, and thought I would enjoy the tone of her writing. I was not disappointed! Kohn manages to impart this historic information without a hint of dryness or unnecessary fluff. It was yet another book about Daoism that was difficult to put down. I read a number of sections with particular interest. (The notes on translation were exceptionally helpful.)

I deeply appreciated even the very basic, initial information about Laozi and the Daodejing. This filled in many gaps for me as to the beginnings of Daoist philosophy. Without this helpful history, my understanding of it was solely from any number of different translators, many of whom gave only a few historical details at best. Also, learning about the other philosophical schools from that time period was fascinating.

The history of The Zhuangzhi was compelling, particularly the four distinct strands of Daoist thought. After reading about these four, it helped me connect with the viewpoint of a current Daoist author’s perspective. A book I read months ago expressed a Daoist philosophy which struck me as heavily weighted towards hedonism, and I remember being a little confused. Kohn’s writing about this strand in early Daoist thought bridged the gap in perspective for me!

The religious communities section provided some interesting information, particularly about the celestial masters.
Part Three: Spiritual Practices was a section where I found myself highlighting on almost every single page! Rites, practices, meditation… it was entirely fascinating to me. I paid close attention to Sun Simiao’s Five Phases of the Mind, and thought that the furthest I had come was about to phase three, or half agitation and half tranquility. I reviewed and highlighted the information about Internal Alchemy, which was interesting.

The Monastic Discipline chapter was engrossing. Not only are eremitism and monasticism very much special interests of mine, but this section also provided the history of the Quanzhen School of Daoist monasticism. The Spiritual Attainment section provided another taste of precepts, this time specific to Complete Perfection. Finally, the Modernity portion of Kohn’s book gave a wonderful history of Qigong, and the Qigong movement which I deeply enjoyed learning more about. I very much enjoyed this book, and look forward to reading more of her writings in the future.