Introducing Daoism

List of illustrations

Dynastic chart

Pronunciation guide

Acknowledgments

Map of China

Introduction: background to Daoism

Shang ancestors and divination

The Yijing

Philosophical schools

Confucianism

Part I. Foundations

1. The Dao that can't be told

The text of the Daode jing

The Dao

Creation and decline

The sage

Interpreting the Daode jing

Lord Lao

Ritual applications

2. At ease in perfect happiness

The Zhuangzi

The world of Zhuang Zhou

The ideal life

Poetic adaptations

The Zen connection

3. From health to immortality

Body energetics

Qi cultivation

Healing exercises

Magical practitioners and immortals

4. Cosmos, gods, and governance

Yin and Yang

The five phases

The Chinese calendar

Deities, demons, and divine rulers

The ideal of Great Peace

Part II. Development

5. Major schools of the middle ages

Celestial Masters

Highest Clarity

Numinous Treasure

The theocracy

The Three Caverns

State religion

6. Ethics and community

The celestial connection

Millenarian structures

Self-cultivation groups

Lay organizations

Daoist art

The monastic life

7. Creation and the pantheon

Creation

Spells, charts, and talismans

Heavens and hells

Gods, ancestors, and immortals

8. Religious practices

Longevity techniques

Breath and sex

Meditation

Visualization

Body transformation

Ritual activation

Part III. Modernity

9. Modern Daoism

New texts and gods

Ritual masters

Complete perfection

Imperial adaptations

An expanded pantheon

10. Reaching for the Dao

Trance practices

Internal alchemy

Healing and martial arts

Philosophical speculation

Vernacular novels

11. Daoism in China today

Recent developments

Structure and administration

Daoist lives

Ritual activities

The qiqong connection

12. Western adaptations

Transmission in East Asia

Western apperception

Temples and communities

Health practices

Part IV. Reflections

13. The nature and study of Daoism

Key characteristics

Evolution of study

Current trends

Activities and resources

Appendix 1. Chronology of Daoist history

Appendix 2. The Daoist canon

Glossary

Index