Reading the Chuang-Tzu in the T'Ang Dynasty
Subtitle: The Commentary of Cheng Hsuan-Ying (Fl. 631-652) (Asian Thought and Culture, Vol. 39)
Publisher: Peter Lang Pub Inc
Published: November 2000
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 209
ISBN-13: 9780820445540
Subjects: Buddhism - General; Taoist; Buddhism; Taoism; Philosophy; Cheng, Xuanying,; Nanhua jing; Nanhua zhenjing shu; Relations; Zhuangzi; fl. 631-655; fl. 631-655.; Religion
Description: "This book explores the interaction between Taoism and Buddhism through a reading of the Chuang-tzu. Focusing on the commentary by the Taoist master Ch'eng Hsuan-ying (fl, 631-652), Shiyi Yu argues that, in competition with Buddhism, traditional Chinese thinking took a sharp turn in the early T'ang away from the influence of Taoist-minded philosophers in the Wei-Chin period.

Characterized by being concrete and unambiguous in approaching the issue of transcendence, Ch'eng Hsuan-ying's innovative reading of the Chuang-tzu led to a new emphasis on experience and knowledge. In both these respects, his reading has not only transformed the Chuang-tzu as constructed by previous readers, but also convincingly defended medieval Taoism as a set of practical beliefs that also were grounded in the metaphysics of the time."--BOOK JACKET.