Explorations in Daoism: Medicine and Alchemy in Literature

by Ho Peng Yoke

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.

228 pages, Hardcover

First published April 23, 2007

Reviews

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must admit I was a little disappointed with this book. Mostly because it focused entirely on external alchemy and totally ignored internal alchemy. This is of course just my personal preference and not a reflection on the book itself. The book was a collection of different essays published over the authors life. There were detailed examples on how to go about dating texts and different methodologies you could use that was most interesting. Then there were large translations of various alchemical texts. However, as these were all external alchemy it was a list of different ingredients and the different properties of each. Useful for a reference but not really something you want to sit and read cover to cover. I'm glad I borrowed this one from the library rather than buying a copy to find out it wasn't really what I was interested in (Despite Daoism and alchemy being in the title).