Daoism Handbook道教手册

Also known as

Daoism Handbook

Author / transmission

Livia Kohn

Period

Modern · Edited by Livia Kohn, published by Brill (in its Handbook of Oriental Studies series) in 2000, in one volume of roughly 950 pages, later also issued in a two-volume paperback edition.

Canon division

Reference Works

Collected in

Modern scholarly work

Category

Reference Works

Fascicles

1 juan (later issued as a 2-volume paperback edition)

Synopsis

Daoism Handbook, edited by Livia Kohn and published by Brill in 2000 as part of its Handbook of Oriental Studies series, is the first systematic collection of research surveys of Daoist studies in English. The work comprises about thirty chapters, each written by a specialist offering a thematic survey: from the origins of Daoism, Han-dynasty methods of the fangshi, the Way of the Celestial Masters, Shangqing and Lingbao, Tang-dynasty Chongxuan thought and internal alchemy, the new Daoist schools of the Song and Yuan, Quanzhen Daoism, and Ming-Qing Daoism, to ritual, the pantheon, internal-alchemy practice, women and Daoism, Daoism in literature and art, and the reception of Daoism in Japan and Korea and its contemporary transmission overseas — each chapter surveying the state of research, core questions, and key literature. Unlike the encyclopedic Encyclopedia of Taoism, this work adopts the format of the 'research survey,' making it well suited as a navigational guide and bibliographic resource for those beginning research, and it has long been assigned as a reference text in Daoist studies courses at universities in Europe and America. Kohn herself is a prolific scholar (working on such topics as sitting in oblivion, precepts, nourishing life, and body techniques) and founded Three Pines Press and the Journal of Daoist Studies, making her one of the key figures in the institutionalization of English-language Daoist studies.

Key Ideas

• The first systematic collection of research surveys of Daoist studies in English
• About thirty thematic survey chapters
• Covers history, sects, ritual, cultivation, and overseas transmission
• Structured as research surveys and bibliographic guides
• A standard reference text for Daoist studies courses in Europe and America

Structure

About thirty thematic survey chapters, each with its own bibliography, and an index.

Editions

• Brill, 2000 (Handbook of Oriental Studies)
• Brill two-volume paperback edition

Full Text & Online Resources

• Brill official page
• Wikipedia: Livia Kohn

Related scriptures

Related figures