Lennert Gesterkamp

Researcher: Dr. Lennert Gesterkamp
Research Project: Creating Daoism: The Fangdao yulu and Daoist Esoteric Practices in the Republican Period
Region: China

This research project investigates the Daoist esoteric practices described in fifty-five interviews with prominent Daoist figures and some other figures as collected in the Fangdao yulu 訪道語錄 (Record of Interviews with Daoists, Taipei 1966, 1970). Almost all interviewees hailed from the mainland after fleeing to Taiwan in 1949, and the work should be seen as describing Daoism of the Republican period in China and Taiwan. During that time, Chinese Daoism was under pressure to re-define itself, and the selection of interviews and esoteric practices are therefore representative of these ideals. Interestingly, around the same time, western scholars also began to study in Daoism, coincidentally also in Taiwan and in particular Kristofer Schipper, who can be considered as the doyen of Daoist studies in the West. Most curiously however, the Daoism created in the West differs greatly in outlook than what is described in the Fangdao yulu, the esoteric practices of which are almost all but ignored in western Daoist studies. This project, by means of a study and translation of the Fangdao yulu and its esoteric practices aims to understand the Chinese view of Daoism and why it became neglected in Daoist studies in the West.

Скачать видео