I have recently learned that Professor Zhan Shichuang 詹石窗 of Sichuan University is founding an English-language academic journal, Frontiers of Daoist Studies. Anyone interested in submitting work can contact Zhang Lijuan 张丽娟, a postdoctoral fellow in the Institute of Religious Studies, who represents the Editorial Office of the journal.
Category Archives: Zhuangzi
Welcome to Carl Dull as New Contributor
We are happy to welcome Carl Dull, a long-time blog reader and commentator, as a new contributor. Here is Carl’s self-introduction:
Carl J. Dull received a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Southern Illinois University where he studied both Chinese and Western traditions. He has taught at the Nanjing School of Foreign Language and worked for Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth in Nanjing and Hong Kong. His major interest is early Chinese thought, especially Zhuangzi. His dissertation investigates wandering and the heart in Zhuangzi, and proposes various positive ethical ideals for caring for living. His current research looks at early Chinese thought as a resource for moral psychology and therapeutic practice. His previous work includes the power of inspiration in Confucius, the practical compatibility between Confucian principles and Human Rights, and the language games of Zhuangzi and Wittgenstein. Contact: cjdull@gmail.com.
New Journal of Daoist Studies, and New Zhuangzi book
Three Pines Press proudly announces the publication of Zhuangzi: Text and Context, by Livia Kohn, to appear in January 2014. (330 pages; Paperback:$35.95; prepublication special: $28.50 plus S & H.) For details and to order, please go to http://threepinespress.com/
We are also happy to present the table of contents for the next issue of the Journal of Daoist Studies (vol. 7), to be published in February 2014. For details, please see below.
Ziporyn’s Beyond Oneness and Difference Published
The second volume of Brook Ziporyn’s new work on li and coherence in pre-Neo-Confucian Chinese thought has been published. See below for summary and Table of Contents for both volumes.
An Interview with Zhuangzi
Alan Levinovitz, recently of the Chicago Divinity School and now on the faculty at James Madison, wrote his dissertation on the idea of play in Zhuangzi. So it is quite appropriate that he managed to secure an interview with the elusive author of that work. Enjoy!
New Book on Daoist Philosophy
A forthcoming book:
Steve Coutinho, An Introduction to Daoist Philosophies (Columbia University Press, November 2013)
Steve Coutinho explores in detail the fundamental concepts of Daoist thought as represented in three early texts: the Laozi, the Zhuangzi, and the Liezi. Readers interested in philosophy yet unfamiliar with Daoism will gain a comprehensive understanding of these works from this analysis, and readers fascinated by ancient China who also wish to grasp its philosophical foundations will appreciate the clarity and depth of Coutinho’s explanations.
ToC: Asian Philosophy 23.3
A new issue of Asian Philosophy 23.3 (2013) has been published. Five out of the six papers are on Chinese Philosophy:
Moral Emotions, Awareness, and Spiritual Freedom in the Thought of Zhu Xi (1130–1200)
Kai Marchal
Dōgen and Wittgenstein: Transcending Language through Ethical Practice
Laura Specker Sullivan
Han Fei’s Enlightened Ruler
Alejandro Bárcenas
Han Fei, De, Welfare
Henrique Schneider
Clearing Up Obstructions: An Image Schema Approach to the Concept of ‘Datong’ in Chapter 6 of the Zhuangzi
C. Lynne Hong
Amod Lele’s Zhuangzi Posts
Over on Love of All Wisdom, Amod recently posted three Zhuangzi meditations in which our readers may be interested. Go have a look!
Here are the links:
2012 Dao Best Essay Winner
The editorial board of Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy has completed its annual selection of the best essay. The winner of 2012 Dao Annual Best Essay Award is given to
“Instruction Dialogues in the Zhuangzi: An `Anthropological’ Reading” by Carine Defoort (Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 11:459-478)
Congratulations to Carine!
Below is the official citation:
This essay provides a fresh reading of the ancient Chinese Daoist classic Zhuangzi. While the author claims that it is a non-philosophical reading, it turns out to be a philosophical reading that is most appropriate to the Zhuangzi and perhaps many if not all other ancient Chinese classics. The Zhuangzi authors, just like many other classical Chinese philosophers, were not so much interested, if at all, in theory building as in transformation of the person. Through a focus on the formal characteristics of the dialogues, careful textual analyses, perceptive interpretations, and coherent arguments, Dr. Defoort convincingly shows that the instruction of the Zhuangzi’s masters hint at the importance of non-teaching in various senses; it also focuses on attitudes and skills (knowing how) rather than knowledge (knowing that). The essay thus breaks ground not only in our interpretation of the Zhuangzi but also in our understanding of philosophy per se. It is the type of work that Dao promotes.
Barnwell on Classical Daoism Part 4.1
Long-time friend of the blog, Scott Barnwell, has posted his fourth installment exploring the question of whether there really is such a thing as “classical Daoism,” over on his blog, Bao Pu. Here are a couple of paragraphs; go over and check it out. Discuss there or here, as you wish — if here, please address all comments to Scott.
The purpose of this 4th essay is to explore these two texts to see what similarities and differences exist. If we understand a “school of thought” (modern Chinese: Xuepai ??) to refer to a system or complex of beliefs, ideas, values and methods, would the various authors of the Laozi and Zhuangzi constitute such a school, as is commonly believed? Or were they two different schools of thought with only slight overlap, perhaps a Laoist school and a Zhuangist school? Is there a “family resemblance” that exists between these two texts that does not between them and others, such as the Mengzi, Mozi, Hanfeizi or Yijing? Jia ?, which commonly meant “house” or “family,” has suggested to Harold Roth that Sima Tan’s use of it “implies that he thought of his six groups as having an important lineage dimension in which masters and disciples functioned according to a family model.”[7] By positing a lineage of masters and disciples (= teachers and students) we come close to the idea of a school (of thought) as well, although whether the contributors to the Laozi and Zhuangzi were two branches of one lineage remains to be seen.
We’ve already explored the nature of ancient Chinese texts and some possible scenarios of how the texts came to be in the earlier essays, especially the 3rd one on Zhuangzi. We have hypothesized that the existence of the Laozi and Zhuangzi required some sort of lineage or group that had compiled and preserved (and added to) these texts, at least until the Han dynasty period where texts were sought out by regional rulers and the imperial government in order to preserve the classical legacy in various libraries. These groups need not have been large, and, further, we do not know if this lineage was unbroken, or whether decades went by where the texts sat neglected in boxes in people’s homes.
