Description
Book SynopsisA study of the religious aspects of Chinese alchemy and its relation to the Taoist traditions of the early medieval period.
Trade Review"The book is beautifully set, adding value to its very informative, precise, marvelously detailed, and well-researched intellectual content." -- Rudolf Pfister *
East Asian Science, Technology, and Medicine *
"Pregadio has given us vastly improved picture of early alchemy, one that will certainly inspire a new generation to jump the barriers of scholarly habit. His deep textual study and willingness to ask new questions show that it is not too late to revivify the study of alchemy and its religious connections." -- N. Sivin *
Journal of Chinese Studies *
"Pregadio has chosen this multifaceted term [Great Clarity/
Taiqing] to label the earliest alchemist tradition, which is the focus of this superb study. With this publication, Pregadio has proven himself to be the leading scholar of early alchemy in China." --
Journal of Chinese ReligionsTable of ContentsCONTENTS List of Illustrations, vi List of Tables, vii Conventions, viii Preface, xi Introduction, 1 Part One: THE HEAVEN OF GREAT CLARITY AND ITS REVELATIONS 1 The Early History of Chinese Alchemy and the Way of the Great Clarity, 33 2 The Heaven of Great Clarity, 53 3 The Great Clarity Corpus, 82 Part Two: THE ELIXIRS OF THE GREAT CLARITY 4 The Crucible and the Elixir, 104 5 The Ritual Sequence, 124 6 The Medicines of Great Clarity, 156 Part Three: A HISTORY OF THE GREAT CLARITY 7 Gods, Demons, and Elixirs: Alchemy in Fourth-Century Jiangnan, 191 8 The Way of the Great Clarity and Daoism in the Six Dynasties, 218 Part Four: TEXTS OF THE GREAT CLARITY 9 Scripture of The Nine Elixirs, 244 10 Scripture of the Golden Liquor, 288 11 Scripture of the Reverted Elixir in Nine Cycles, 294 Part Five: THE LEGACY OF THE GREAT CLARITY 12 The Later History of Chinese Alchemy and the Decline of the Great Clarity, 306 Appendixes A Dates of Texts in the Waidan Corpus, 340 B Additional Notes on Great Clarity and Related Texts, 346 C Additional Notes on the Commentary to the Scripture of the Nine Elixirs, 363 Glossary, 389 Works Quoted, 405 Index
