The present article examines how classical, early medieval and medieval Taoist sources theorise inequality as an outcome of cosmogonic processes, and how these same sources project eliminating inequality through a reversal of those processes. The first part of the article considers utopias from the Laozi daode jing (Laozi’s Scripture on the Way and its Virtue) and Zhuangzi (Book of Master Zhuang) and from the early medieval writings of Ji Kang (223–262) and Bao Jingyan (3rd to early 4th centuries). From these, a number of themes common to Taoist utopias emerge, namely communitarian primitivism, the condemnation of knowledge, and the endorsement of a de-civilising programme of cosmogonic reversion which aims for a return to the golden age of natural spontaneity. The second part of the article is devoted to the mature utopian vision of the ninth-century Wunengzi (The Incapable Master). In addition to elaborating on previous themes, the Wunengzi contributes two new ideas to Taoist utopian discourse: first, the distinction between intelligence, which develops naturally, and human knowledge, which is an artificial contrivance; and second, the conviction that an ideal society is achievable through engagement with existing political structures. The conclusion examines basic similarities between Taoist utopias and early modern to modern European counterparts, challenging the validity of Eurocentric notions of a ‘Taoist anarchism’.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AmesRoger T.1983. ‘Is Political Taoism Anachism?’ Journal of Chinese Philosophy, vol. 10.1(March): 27–47.
2.
BarnyRoger.1985. Prélude idéologique à la Révolution française: Le rousseauisme avant 1789, Paris.
3.
BenjaminWalter. (1939) 1999. The Arcades Project, EilandHowardMcLaughlinKevin (eds), Cambridge, MA.
4.
BernalMartin. 1976. Chinese Socialism to 1907, Ithica, NY.
BokenkampStephen. 1997. Early Daoist Scriptures, Berkeley.
7.
CampanyRobert F.2009. Making Transcendents: Ascetics and Social Memory in Early Medieval China, Honolulu.
8.
Ch’ienC.S.[Qian Zhongshu]. 1947. ‘The Return of the Native’, Philobiblon, vol. 4: 17–26.
9.
ChouraquiFrank. 2013. Eternity by the Stars, New York.
10.
CsiksentmihalyiMark. 2006. Readings in Han Chinese Thought, Indianapolis.
11.
De MeyerJan. 2004. ‘Wunengzi’, in SchipperKristoferVerellenFranciscus (eds), The Taoist Canon: A Historical Companion to the Daozang, Chicago: 377–78.
12.
De MeyerJan. 2011. Wunengzi (Niteskunner): Her taoïsme en de bevrijding van de geest, Amsterdam.
13.
DuyvendakJ.J.-L(trans.). 1928. The Book of Lord Shang, London.
14.
EspessetGrégoire. 2004. ‘À vau-l’eau, à rebours ou l’ambivalence de la logique triadique dans l’idéologie du Taiping jing’, Cahiers d’Extrême-Asie, vol. 14: 61–94.
15.
HongGe. (317) 1985. Baopuzi neipian jiaoshi [Annotated Critical Edition of the Inner Chapters of the Master Who Embraces Simplicity], MingWang (ed.), Beijing.
16.
HongGe. (317) 1997. Baopuzi waipian jiaojian [Annotated Critical Edition of the Outer Chapters of the Master Who Embraces Simplicity], MingzhaoYang(ed.), Beijing.
17.
GrahamA.C.1961. ‘The Date and Composition of Liehtzyy’, Asia Major, vol. 8: 139–98.
18.
GrahamA.C. (1960) 1990. The Book of Lieh-tzǔ: A Classic of Tao, New York.
19.
GrazianiRomain. 2004. ‘Combats d’animaux. Réflexions sur le bestiaire du Zhuangzi’ (Special issue on ‘De la difficulté de juger’), Stéphane Feuillas et Rainier Lanselle (eds), Extrême-Orient Extrême-Occident, vol. 26: 55–87.
20.
GrazianiRomain. 2004. ‘The subject and the sovereign: Exploring the self in early Chinese self-cultivation’, in LagerweyJohnKalinowskiMarc (eds), Early Chinese Religion. Part One: Shang through Han (1250 BC–220 AD), Leiden, vol. 1: 459–518.
21.
GrazianiRomain.2011. Les corps dans le taoïsme ancien. L’infirme, l’informe l’infâme, Paris.
22.
QingfanGuo (ed.). (ca. 3rd century BCE) (1895) 1961. Zhuangzi ji shi [Collated Critical Edition of the Zhuangzi], Beijing.
HenricksRobert G.1983. Philosophy and Argumentation in Third-century China, Princeton.
25.
HolzmanDonald.1957. La vie et la pensée de Hi K’ang (223–262 AP. J.-C.), Leiden.
26.
Kung-ChuanHsiao (K.C.) [Xiao Gongquan]. 1936. ‘Anarchism in Chinese Political Thought’, T’ien Hsia Monthly, vol. 3.3: 249–63.
27.
KangJi. (3rd century) 1962. Nan ziran haoxue lun [A Refutation of the Essay on the Intrinsic Fondness for Learning], in MingyangDai (ed.), Ji Kang ji [Annotated Critical Edition of the Collected Works of Ji Kang], Beijing.
28.
KleemanTerry. 1998. Great Perfection: Religion and Ethnicity in a Chinese Millennial Kingdom, Honolulu.
KropotkinPeter. (1902) 1955. Mutual Aid: A Factor for Evolution, Boston.
31.
LéviJean. 1977. ‘Le Mythe de l’Âge d’or et les théories de l’évolution en Chine ancienne’, L’Homme, vol. 17.1: 73–103.
32.
LéviJean. 1989. Les fonctionnaires divins: Politique, despotisme et mystique en Chine ancienne, Paris.
33.
LéviJean.2004. Éloge de l’anarchie par deux excentriques chinois, Paris.
34.
LéviJean(trans.). 1981. Le Livre du Prince Shang, Paris.
35.
YulieLou (ed.). (4th century BCE) 2008. Laozi Daode jing zhu jiaoshi. [Annotated Critical Edition of Laozi’s Scripture on the Way and Its Virtue], Beijing.
36.
YusanLu. 1987. ‘“Fan zhe dao zhi dong” zhuyi’ [The Ideology of ‘Return is the Movement of the Dao’], Zhongguo zhexueshi yanjiu, vol. 1: 26–31.
37.
MarxKarlEngelsFriedrich. (1848) 2012. The Communist Manifesto, IsaacJeffrey C. (ed.), New Haven.
38.
MatherRichard B.1979. ‘K’ou Ch’ien-chih and the Taoist Theocracy at the Northern Wei Court, 425–451’, in WelchHolmesSeidelAnna (eds), Facets of Taoism: Essays in Chinese Religion, New Haven, CT.
39.
McCormackJerusha. 2007. ‘From Chinese Wisdom to Irish Wit: Zhuangzi and Oscar Wilde’, Irish University Review, vol. 37(2): 302–21.
40.
MüllerGotelind.2001. China, Kropotkin und der Anarchismus. Eine Kulturbewegung im China des frühen 20. Jahrhunderts unter dem Einfluß des Westens und japanischer Vorbilder, Wiesbaden.
41.
YoshimiMurakami. 1963. Chūgoku no sennin: Hōbokushi no shisō: [Chinese Immortals: the Thought of the Baopu zi], Kyoto.
42.
NeedhamJoseph. 1956. Science and Civilization in China: History of Scientific Thought (vol. 2), Cambridge.
43.
NinjiŌfuchi. 1991. Shoki no dōkyō [Early Taoism], Tokyo.
44.
MasaharuOzaki. 1979. ‘Ko Kenshi no shinsen shisō’ [Kou Qianzhi’s conceptions of immortality], Tōhō Shūkyō, vol. 54: 52–69.
45.
PuettMichael. 2002. To Become a God: Cosmology, Sacrifice and Self-divinization in Early China, Cambridge, MA.
46.
PregadioFabrizio. 2014. ‘Destiny, Vital Force, or Existence? On the Meanings of Ming in Daoist Internal Alchemy and Its Relation to Xing or Human Nature’, Daoism: Religion, History, and Society, 6.
47.
XitaiQing. 1988–95. Zhongguo daojiao shi [History of Chinese Taoism], 4 vols., Chengdu.
48.
RappJohn A.2012. Daoism and Anarchism: Critiques of State Autonomy in Ancient and Modern China, New York.
49.
RazGil. 2012. The Emergence of Daoism: Creation of Tradition, London.
50.
RobinetIsabelle. 1977. Les commentaires du Tao tö king jusqu’au VIIe siècle, Paris.
51.
RousseauJean-Jacques. (1755) 1964. Discours sur l’origine et les fondements de l’inégalité parmi les hommes [Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality among Men], in RousseauJean-Jacques (ed.), Oeuvres complètes, Paris, vol. 3 (La Pléiade): 111–223.
52.
RousseauJean-Jacques. (1755) 1964. ‘Réponse à Voltaire’, in RousseauJean-Jacques (ed.), Oeuvres completes, Paris, vol. 3 (La Pléiade): 226–29.
53.
RousseauJean-Jacques. (1755) 1964. ‘Lettre de J.-J. Rousseau à M. Philopolis’, in Oeuvres completes, Paris, vol. 3 (La Pléiade): 230–36.
54.
RydenEdmund(trans.). 2008. Daodejing, Oxford.
55.
SeidelAnna.1969. La divinisation de Lao tseu dans le taoïsme des Han, Paris.
56.
SeidelAnna. 1978. ‘Der Kaiser und sein Ratberger: Lao tzu und der Taoismus der Han-Zeit’, Saeculum, vol. 29.1: 18–50.
57.
SeiwertHubert.2003. Popular Religious Movements and Heterodox Sects in Chinese History, Leiden.
58.
YangShang. (4th century BCE) 1986. Shangjunshu zuizhi [Annotated Critical Edition of the Book of Lord Shang], LihongJiang (ed.), Beijing.
59.
QianSima. (ca. 91) 1985. Shiji [Records of the Historian], Beijing.
60.
SivinNathan. 1978. ‘On the Word Taoism as a Source of Perplexity. With Special Reference to the Relations of Science and Religion in Traditional China’, History of Religions, vol. 17: 303–30.
61.
SteavuDominic. 2009. ‘The Many Lives of Lord Wang of the Western Citadel: A Note on the Transmission of the Sanhuang wen (Writ of the Three Sovereigns)’, Journal of the International College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies, vol. 13: 109–61.
62.
SteavuDominic. Forthcoming. ‘Cosmos, Body, and Gestation in Taoist Meditation’, in AndreevaAnnaSteavuDominic (eds), Creation and Animation: Embryological Discourse and Reproductive Imagery in East Asian Religions, Leiden.
63.
ShiSu. (11th century) 1986. ‘Shuixiang ji [‘Record of the Land of Sleep’], in FanliKong (ed.), Su Shi wenji (Collected Works of Su Shi), Beijing.
64.
YongtongTangYijieTang. 1961. ‘Kou Qianzhi de zhuzuo yu sixiang’ [The work and thought of Kou Qianzhi], Lishi yanjiu, vol. 1961(5): 64–77.
65.
YuanmingTao. (421) 1979. ‘Taohua yuan ji [‘Spring of the Peach Blossom’], in QingliLu (ed.), Tao Yuanming ji [Collected Works of Tao Yuanming], Beijing.
66.
ThomsonLaurence G.1958. The One-world Philosophy of K’ang Yu-wei, London.
67.
Vǎn [Xuyết]Ngô. 2004. Utopie antique et guerre des paysans en Chine, Paris.
68.
MingWang (ed.). (887) 1992. Wunengzi jiaozhu. [Annotated Edition of the Incapable Master], Beijing.
69.
WildeOscar. (1890) 1969. ‘A Chinese Sage’, in EllmannRichard (ed.), The Critic as Artist: The Critical Writings of Oscar Wilde, New York: 221–28.
70.
WildeOscar. (1891) 1994. ‘The Soul of Man under Socialism’, in HollandMerlyn (ed.), Complete Works of Oscar Wilde, Glasgow.
71.
BojunYang (ed.). [ca. 300(?)] 2013. Liezi jishi. [Critical Edition of the Liezi], Beijing.
72.
ZarrowPeter.1990. Anarchism and Chinese Political Culture, New York.
73.
MiaoZhang (2nd century) 1962. Ziran haoxue lun [Essay on the Intrinsic Fondness for Learning], in MingyangDai (ed.), Ji Kang ji jiaozhu [Annotated Critical Edition of The Collected Works of Ji Kang], Beijing.
74.
Zhengyi fawen tianshi jiao jieke jing. [Commands of the Celestial Masters from the One and Orthodox Canon]. (ca. 255) 1923–26. Taoist Canon CT 789. Shanghai.
(Laozi’s Scripture on the Way and its Virtue) and Zhuangzi 
(Book of Master Zhuang) and from the early medieval writings of Ji Kang 
(223–262) and Bao Jingyan 
(3rd to early 4th centuries). From these, a number of themes common to Taoist utopias emerge, namely communitarian primitivism, the condemnation of knowledge, and the endorsement of a de-civilising programme of cosmogonic reversion which aims for a return to the golden age of natural spontaneity. The second part of the article is devoted to the mature utopian vision of the ninth-century Wunengzi 
(The Incapable Master). In addition to elaborating on previous themes, the Wunengzi contributes two new ideas to Taoist utopian discourse: first, the distinction between intelligence, which develops naturally, and human knowledge, which is an artificial contrivance; and second, the conviction that an ideal society is achievable through engagement with existing political structures. The conclusion examines basic similarities between Taoist utopias and early modern to modern European counterparts, challenging the validity of Eurocentric notions of a ‘Taoist anarchism’.
. (317) 
[Annotated Critical Edition of the Inner Chapters of the 
(ed.), 
. (317) 
[Annotated Critical Edition of the Outer Chapters of the 
(ed.). (ca. 3rd century BCE) (
[Collated Critical Edition of the 
. (3rd century) 
[A Refutation of the Essay on the Intrinsic Fondness for Learning], in 
(ed.), 
[Annotated Critical Edition of the Collected Works of Ji Kang], 
(ed.). (4th century BCE) 
. [Annotated Critical Edition of 
. 
[The Ideology of ‘Return is the Movement of the Dao’], 
, 
. 
:
[Chinese Immortals: the Thought of the 
. 
[Early Taoism], 
. 
[Kou Qianzhi’s conceptions of immortality], 
, 
in Daoist Internal Alchemy and Its Relation to Xing 
or Human Nature
. 1988–95. 
[History of Chinese Taoism], 4 vols., 
. (4th century BCE) 
[Annotated Critical Edition of the Book of Lord Shang], 
(ed.), 
. (ca. 91) 
[Records of the Historian], 
(
, 
. (11th century) 
[‘Record of the Land of Sleep’], in 
(ed.), 
(Collected Works of Su Shi), 
. 
[The work and thought of Kou Qianzhi], 
, 
. (421) 
[‘Spring of the Peach Blossom’], in 
(ed.), 
[Collected Works of Tao Yuanming], 
(ed.). (887) 
. [Annotated Edition of the 
(ed.). [ca. 300(?)] 
. [Critical Edition of the 
(2nd century) 
[Essay on the Intrinsic Fondness for Learning], in 
(ed.), 
[Annotated Critical Edition of The Collected Works of Ji Kang], 
. [Commands of the Celestial Masters from the One and Orthodox Canon]. (ca. 255) 1923–26. Taoist Canon CT 789.