Taoism ,article in nyt

[LAOLONG]

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/08/09/world/asia/china-taoism-terry-kleeman.html

[dust]

Interesting read. Though I don't much like it.

 

One would think a "leading scholar" would approach the subject with more subtlety than,

 

"There are two distinct types of Taoism, religious Taoism and philosophical Taoism, and religious Taoism is the only indigenous religion in China, and it is nothing but a theocracy, and shamanism and neidan aren't worth even mentioning, and folk religion is all basically just Taoism..."

 

...?

Edited October 31, 2016 by dustybeijing

[Rocky Lionmouth]

Interesting!

There was a link below to another article called "Rise of the Tao" iirc, detailing around an "eye opening" ceremony performed by an abess from a quanzhen nunnery, very interesting also.

[Taomeow]

Invoking Bù Dòng, the God of Wrath (god's wrath had to be outsourced to India by both taoists and zen buddhists, for specifically this kind of occasions), and offering the article to his scrutiny.

[cheya]

Rocky, the article "The Rise of the Tao" is really special, especially the very end, the lighting of the eyes, "opening brightness".

Thank you for pointing it out for us.

[Vajra Fist]

I love Ian Johnson. His Pulitzer-winning book Wild Grass was what inspired me to become a journalist

[morning dew]

This is an interesting article.  

 

On 31/10/2016 at 9:54 PM, dust said:

Interesting read. Though I don't much like it.

 

One would think a "leading scholar" would approach the subject with more subtlety than,

 

"There are two distinct types of Taoism, religious Taoism and philosophical Taoism, 

 

Yeah, I was a bit surprised as well. Also, I thought all the Kirkmans and Kohns had dismissed this idea in academia?

 

I was surprised to read this below as well. I didn't realise this was still the attitude in China. I thought they had reintroduced things such as qigong back into mainstream society and hospitals, etc., in the 70s? Or do they view qigong in a scientific framework rather than a religious one?

 

Quote

 

Today it seems different. Taoism is embraced as part of the traditional Chinese culture that the government is promoting.

 

Only certain aspects of the religion. The Chinese Constitution guarantees freedom of religious belief but not religious practice. Much of what a traditional Taoist priest did is now illegal. They are allowed to do rituals but cannot claim to have actually accomplished anything with the ritual, or else it is called superstition. If you claim your ritual will actually heal someone or save their relatives, you can be thrown in jail for fraud.

 

It leaves Taoism in a very different position in society, a representative of the culture without any rights to control their own public image, which is controlled by the government.

 

 

Edited August 19, 2017 by morning dew