Baopuzi: Outer Chapters抱朴子外篇

Author / transmission

Ge Hong

Period

Eastern Jin · Written by Ge Hong, composed at the same time as, or slightly before, the Inner Chapters.

Canon division

Taiqing Section

Collected in

Zhengtong Daozang, Taiqing Section

Category

Daoist Philosophy

Fascicles

Fifty scrolls

Synopsis

The Baopuzi Outer Chapters is Ge Hong's work discussing gains and losses in the human world and the merits and faults of worldly affairs, fifty chapters, classified among the Miscellaneous Schools of the philosophical division. Its content touches on politics, ethics, talent, literature, and custom, attacking the vain and showy manners current since the end of the Han and the free and unrestrained conduct of Wei–Jin men of letters, and advocating respect for the ruler, emphasis on law, and reverence for Confucian learning — reflecting his overall intellectual stance of immortality within, Confucian learning without. The chapters 'Jiadun' and 'Yimin' express his ambition for reclusion; 'Junshi' and 'Shangbo' argue that literature today surpasses that of antiquity; 'Shenju' discusses the selection of officials; 'Jiebao' refutes Bao Jingyan's theory of rulerlessness — preserving precious material for the intellectual history of the Wei–Jin period. The 'Zixu' chapter complements the self-account in the Inner Chapters, and is a primary record of Ge Hong's life. Read together with the Inner Chapters, it shows how early Daoist scholar-officials combined Confucianism and Daoism. Yang Mingzhao's Baopuzi Waipian Jiaojian is the standard critical edition.

Key Ideas

• Immortality within, Confucian learning without
• Respect for the ruler and emphasis on law; criticism of unrestrained conduct
• Literature today surpasses that of antiquity (Shangbo)
• The debate between reclusion and public service

Structure

Fifty chapters, ending with 'Zixu.'

Editions

• The Zhengtong Daozang edition
• The Sibu Congkan edition
• Yang Mingzhao, Baopuzi Waipian Jiaojian [Collated and Annotated Edition of the Baopuzi Outer Chapters] (Zhonghua Book Company, 1991–1997)

Commentaries

• Yang Mingzhao, Baopuzi Waipian Jiaojian

Translations

• Jay Sailey, The Master Who Embraces Simplicity (1978), a partial English translation

Full Text & Online Resources

• CTEXT: Baopuzi
• Wikipedia: Baopuzi

Related scriptures

Related figures