Yegor Grebnev, “Revisiting the History of Daoism through Early Chinese Scriptures (shu 書)”

Friday, February 25, 21:00 (Taipei/Beijing, UTC+8) on Zoom

This talk focuses on the previously ignored connection between the Warring States scriptures (shu 書) and Daoism, particularly the esoteric textual traditions commonly identified with “religious Daoism”. Although Daoism is still commonly described as a tradition of detached philosophical speculation (as a philosophy) and innocent otherworldly fantasies (as a religion), the groundbreaking works of Anna Seidel have highlighted its political dimension reflected in the continuing preoccupation with royal legitimacy. However, Seidel shared the conventional opinion that the history of Daoism as a religious tradition only begins in the Eastern Han, and the sources examined by her belong to the medieval period. In this talk, I shall demonstrate that Seidel’s observations can be extended to the Western Han and the Warring States periods, and the precursors of Daoist esoteric textual traditions can be identified in the scriptural (shu) texts, preserved today in such collections as the Shang shu 尚書 and the Yi Zhou shu 逸周書.

The discussion will be led by Mark Csikszentmihalyi (UC Berkeley). Attendance is free but registration is required. To register for the lecture, please visit: philologyinourtime.org or scan the QR code on the flyer attached (It is a one-time registration, so colleagues who registered for our first event do not have to register again). We will send out the Zoom link a day before the event.

The event will be recorded, but recording will be shared only upon request, with the permission of the speaker.

For further information about the online colloquium, including a schedule and materials related to upcoming sessions, please visit our website (philologyinourtime.org).