From: remi sussan (sremi@compuserve.com)
Date: Mon Dec 01 1997 - 11:57:16 MST
Hi Greg, I'm just reading the "Taoist body" by Kristofer Schipper, which
analyses the social impact of taoism on Chinese society. I think you
would be interested about this quote about "Activist taoism"..
"This situation (opposition between taoism and imperial cult -Remi) lead
to revolt, and, at the 1st century before our era, messianic and
millenarists movements inspired by taoism appear, with the hope to give
birth to the reign of the Great equality (Tai Ping) which existed
before our civilization and come back after. The state fight these
movements (snip) . The great revolt of the Yellow Turbans, in 182 of our
era, became so important that the Han dynasty exhausted and died in
trying to repress it".
We can also remember The Triad society, before becoming a simple
gangster organization, was also a religious organization full of taoist
symbols and ritual, whose purpose was to destroy the Mandchu dynasty and
let the Ming come back instead. So Taoists are quite used to political
activism.
> With its stress on the value of nature, it's
>traditions may become the springboard for a wider awareness of the
>impact of
>low-tech industrialization. Furthermore, the "magical" aspects of
>traditional Taoism might well also serve Asia well
According the historian of science Joseph Needham, most of the
scientific discoveries in China were made by taoists, confuciansist
being only interested in social philosophy.
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