1st Edition

Explorations in Daoism Medicine and Alchemy in Literature

By Ho Peng Yoke Copyright 2007
    256 Pages 9 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    256 Pages 9 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    The Daoist canon is the definitive fifteenth century compilation of texts concerning ritual, alchemical and meditation practices within Daoist religion. Many of these texts are undated and anonymous, so dating them is essential for a clear understanding of the development of Chinese alchemy, and the place of these texts in history.

    Ho Peng Yoke's Explorations in Daoism brings together an extraordinary compendium of data on alchemical knowledge in China, describing the methods used for dating important alchemical texts in the Daoist canon, and reconstructing and translating a number of alchemical texts that exist only in fragments scattered throughout the Daoist canon, pharmacopoeia and other compendia.

    This book provides a clear guide for students and scholars about the methods required for dating and reconstituting texts using techniques that can be applied to other areas of traditional Chinese culture also. As such, this book will appeal to those interested in Chinese alchemy, the history of science, Daoism and Chinese history.

    Author's Preface  Preface by T. H. Barrett  1. Introduction   2. On the dating of alchemical texts  3. Danfang jianyuan and Danfang jingyuan  4. Partial restoration, collation and translation of lost alchemical texts  5. General discussions  Appendix 1: Beyond the Daoist Canon: Proto-chemistry in the pharmacopoeia  Appendix 2: Extracts from al-Biruni's pharmacopoeia with added Commentaries  Bibliography 

    Biography

    Ho Peng Yoke has published widely on Chinese alchemy, astronomy, divination and mathematics. He occupied senior academic positions in Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and Hong Kong before becoming the Director of the Needham Research Institute in 1990. On his retirement at the end of 2001 he became its Emeritus Director. He is an academician of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, Academia Sinica and the International Euro-Asia Academy of Science.

     

    "Ho's mastery of the history of science in China is awe inspiring...this is an extremely well-edited volume, with in-text Chinese characters, chemical formulas, and extensive cross-referencing.  It will be an essential reference for scholars of the history of Daoism, alchemy, and Chinese science." - Bridie Andrews Minehan, ISIS, 100:1 (2009)