In the Shadows of the Dao: Laozi, the Sage, and the Daodejing

Author:
Thomas Michael

Publication Month:
October, 2015

Publisher:
New York: State University of New York Press

Abstract:

Thomas Michael’s study of the early history of the Daodejing reveals that the work is grounded in a unique tradition of early Daoism, one unrelated to other early Chinese schools of thought and practice. The text is associated with a tradition of hermits committed to yangsheng, a particular practice of physical cultivation involving techniques of breath circulation in combination with specific bodily movements leading to a physical union with the Dao. Michael explores the ways in which the text systematically anchored these techniques to a Dao-centered worldview. Including a new translation of the Daodejing, In the Shadows of the Dao opens new approaches to understanding the early history of one of the world’s great religious texts and great religious traditions.

Table of Contents:

Reading Daodejing synthetically
Modern scholarship on the Daodejing
Traditions of reading the Daodejing
The Daos of Laozi and Confucius
Early Daoism, Yangsheng, and the Daodejing
The sage and the world
The sage and the project
The sage and bad knowledge
The sage and good knowledge