Taoism

Russell Kirkland is Associate Professor of Religion and Asian Studies at the University of Georgia. He is a member of the executive board of the Society for the Study of Chinese Religions, and of the board of directors of the U.S. Taoist Association. He has been writing on Taoism for over twenty years.

'Amid the paucity of reliable textbook and introductory treatments of Daoism, Kirkland’s work does an outstanding job of synthesizing contemporary scholarship with a highly readable overview of the historical, textual, and ritualistic aspects of Daoism. - Jeffrey Dippman, Central Washington University, Religious Studies Review

• Foreword Norman J. Girardot Preface 1. Understanding Taoism Realities, Constructs, and Hermeneutical Challenges What "Taoism" is: Fact, Tradition, and Self-Identification 2. The Classical Legacy Taoism and 'The Hundred Schools' The 'Useless Words' of Chuang Chou Cultivating Life's Subtle Forces: The Nei-Yeh From 'The Elders' of Ch'u to the Chi-hsia Academy: The Tao Te Ching What Taoists Inherited from Classical Times 3. The Course of the Taoist Tradition Wellsprings Southerly Currents Northerly Currents The High-Water Mark The Damming of the Tao? Old Currents, New Channels Life in the Tideways 4. The Socio-Political Matrix of Taoism 'Literati Taoism' Women in Taoism: Data, Interpretation, and Issues Women in Taoist History Taoists and Dynasts 5. The Cultivated Life Life, Death, and 'Transcendence' Cultivating Reality Conclusion Works Cited Index