Taoist literature, art, miscellany, stories, architecture, music, sculpture, relics, calligraphy and painting.
Traces how Zhenwu’s image changed from the tortoise-and-snake Xuanwu to an armored war god in the Tang and Song, a barefoot ascetic with loose hair, and a refined scholar in the Ming and Qing; examines the political, sectarian, folk, and aesthetic causes; and appreciates a Ming portrait of Zhenwu.
What frugality means as one of the Three Treasures of the Tao Te Ching: from Laozi’s warnings against extravagance to Taoist precepts, the austerities of the Quanzhen patriarchs, masters counseling emperors, morality books, and an ecological ethic—frugality in both material life and desire.
Starting from the Five Dragons Palace on Mount Qian in Liaoning, this piece explains Taoist belief in the Dragon Kings: their power over wind and rain, their many titles, the merit of reciting the dragon king scriptures to pray for rain, imperial enfeoffments, and the Dragon King’s sacred proclamation.
An account of a free public class on Taoist tea practice: the links between tea and Taoism from Ge Xuan’s tea garden to Emperor Huizong’s treatise, tea etiquette, four historical ways of drinking tea, the symbolism of the “Three Powers bowl,” and finding stillness in a cup.