Conjuring Destiny. Retribution and Deliverance in Medieval Taoism.
Beautiful Letters| N° d'inventaire | 23509 |
| Format | 15 x 21 |
| Détails | 406 p., paperback. |
| Publication | Paris, 2021 |
| Etat | Nine |
| ISBN | 9782251451633 |
"A distinguished historian of Taoism, Franciscus Verellen provides us with the first major study of China's high religion in its formative phase. Drawing on the vast corpus of texts preserved in the Taoist Canon, and in dialogue with the scriptures of Buddhism, this work elevates research on Taoism to the rank of that on the other great religions of the world. With unparalleled erudition, the author reveals to us a fascinating universe of individual and collective practices, physical and mystical, without dogmatism and open to women and men from all walks of life." Kristofer Schipper, member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Spanning eight centuries of Chinese history, this book immerses us in the Taoist vision of humanity and its destiny. Historical sources from the Chinese Middle Ages depict a world engulfed by evil, where human existence is pledged from birth and further burdened throughout life by an accumulation of debts, both here and in the afterlife. The spread of Buddhism disrupted Chinese thinking on the causes of suffering, the nature of evil, and the aims of redemption. Drawing on prayer texts, liturgical sermons, and testimonial accounts, Franciscus Verellen recounts how Taoist sacraments, devotional practices, rituals, and therapeutic exercises acted on the invisible world to overcome the anguish linked to loss, illness, and death, and to bring the "inner man" from darkness to light, freed, purified, and healed.
"A distinguished historian of Taoism, Franciscus Verellen provides us with the first major study of China's high religion in its formative phase. Drawing on the vast corpus of texts preserved in the Taoist Canon, and in dialogue with the scriptures of Buddhism, this work elevates research on Taoism to the rank of that on the other great religions of the world. With unparalleled erudition, the author reveals to us a fascinating universe of individual and collective practices, physical and mystical, without dogmatism and open to women and men from all walks of life." Kristofer Schipper, member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Spanning eight centuries of Chinese history, this book immerses us in the Taoist vision of humanity and its destiny. Historical sources from the Chinese Middle Ages depict a world engulfed by evil, where human existence is pledged from birth and further burdened throughout life by an accumulation of debts, both here and in the afterlife. The spread of Buddhism disrupted Chinese thinking on the causes of suffering, the nature of evil, and the aims of redemption. Drawing on prayer texts, liturgical sermons, and testimonial accounts, Franciscus Verellen recounts how Taoist sacraments, devotional practices, rituals, and therapeutic exercises acted on the invisible world to overcome the anguish linked to loss, illness, and death, and to bring the "inner man" from darkness to light, freed, purified, and healed.