Great Clarity: Daoism and Alchemy in Early Medieval China

This is the first book to examine extensively the religious aspects of Chinese alchemy. Its main focus is the relation of alchemy to the Daoist traditions of the early medieval period (third to sixth centuries). It shows how alchemy contributed to and was tightly integrated into the elaborate body of doctrines and practices that Daoists built at that time, from which Daoism as we know it today evolved. The book also clarifies the origins of Chinese alchemy and the respective roles of alchemy and meditation in self-cultivation practices. It contains full translations of three important medieval texts, all of them accompanied by running commentaries, making available for the first time in English the gist of the early Chinese alchemical corpus.

Author: Fabrizio Pregadio
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: 02/27/2006
Pages: 392
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.50lbs
Size: 9.52h x 6.50w x 1.08d
ISBN: 9780804751773

Review Citation(s):
Reference and Research Bk News 08/01/2006 pg. 23

About the Author
Fabrizio Pregadio is Acting Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Stanford University and General Editor of the Encyclopedia of Taoism (2005).