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 | | Tales of the Dancing Dragon: Stories of the Tao by Eva Wong ISBN-10: 9781590305232 ISBN-10: 1-59030-523-X ISBN-13: 9781590305232 ISBN-13: 978-1-59030-523-2 Paperback 2007-11-13 Shambhala Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Product Description Here, Taoist practitioner Eva Wong offers a colorful treatment of the history and evolution of Taoism, told through traditional teaching tales. These tales, which Wong first heard as a child growing up in Hong Kong, are gleaned from the local storytellers and the uncensored chronicles known as yeshi—the wild history of China, not monitored by the official imperial scholars and historians. The stories are by turns mysterious and intriguing, passionate and violent, and they are peppered with colorful characters, including hermits, politicians, social activists, revolutionaries, scholars, scientists, and mystics. Arranged chronologically from prehistory through the early twentieth century, these stories introduce the schools in the Taoist lineages, and capture the defeats and victories of Taoism, its periods of decadence and decay, and its renewal, maturation, and spiritual triumph. Wong puts these stories into context, and shows that Taoism is a dynamic spiritual tradition, constantly changing—and being influenced by—history. | ||
Reviews | ||
A most-beautiful panoramic view of Taoism For the western mind this is really a most-interesting and beautiful panoramic view of the history of China where Taoism has played a central role. From this book we can infere two different schools in taoism, that one in which the "magic" plays an essential role, and that one that can be summed up, in the answer to the question the Emperor Jingzong asked to the taoist master Liu Xuanjing: "Abandon extravagance, minize desire, practice compassion, and refrain from sexual excesses. These are the foundations of the arts of longevity and immortality." Written in a most easy and enjoyable-colorful language, this is really a must-read for all those interested in the evolution of the East and its relation with the spiritual tradition of the west, that after all are not so different, in my humble opinion, when seen from the perspective offered by Eva Wong. | ||