The first text to restore the Four Canons of the Yellow Emperor to its rightful place alongside the Tao Te Ching • Presents the practical guidance of the Four Canons on the art of ruling, metaphysics, military matters, and ways of meditation • Includes translations of the earliest known versions of the Tao Te Ching • Highlights the many links between the Four Canons and the Tao Te Ching In 1973, in Mawangdui, China, a large number of silk manuscripts were discovered at an early Han burial place. Among these were two versions of the Tao Te Ching by Lao-tzu. Dated to around 200 bce, these manuscripts were much older than all existing versions and included, quite surprisingly yet deliberately, the Four Canons of the Yellow Emperor--a long-lost treatise never-before seen in modern times. Based on both the Mawangdui version of the Tao Te Ching and the recently discovered Guodian version, this book is the first to restore the Four Canons of the Yellow Emperor to its rightful place alongside the Book of the Way. Complementing the philosophy of the Tao Te Ching with its more practical advice, the Four Canons cover the art of ruling, metaphysics, military matters, and ways of meditation. Showing how this pairing of texts established the foundations of the Han Dynasty’s power, Jean Levi offers extensive notes throughout the text, providing information essential for understanding as well as highlighting the many connections between these two classic works.

A guide to applying the power and wisdom of Chinese Medicine to Bach Flower Therapy • Includes detailed write-ups about the indications and effects of each of the original 38 Bach flower remedies according to Chinese Medicine • Explains the relationships between specific emotions, symptoms, and regions of the body according to Chinese Medicine • Offers a complementary method of Flower Essence evaluation using physical conditions to access the emotions Bach flower essences provide excellent tools for balancing energetic disturbances generated by emotions. Yet people often have trouble clearly expressing their feelings and emotions, making selection of a specific flower essence difficult. Drawing upon the centuries-old relationships established in Chinese Medicine between emotions and physical disorders, Pablo Noriega shows how to use a person’s descriptions of their complaints and chronic conditions combined with Flower-type personality traits to diagnose which flower essence to prescribe in each unique case. The author includes a full primer on Chinese Medicine, exploring in detail the main principles: Yin and Yang; the Five Elements and their associated Organs; Blood and Energy; the Virtues, the behaviors that can strengthen the Elements; and the Psyches, the energetic spirit of each Organ. He reveals the direct correspondences between specific emotions, symptoms, and regions of the body and how the Flowers help regulate Spirit and work on the emotional foundations of many common chronic disorders. Providing detailed profiles about each of the original 38 Bach flower remedies according to Chinese Medicine, Noriega explains how to prescribe flower essences for prevention of predisposed conditions, for healing of acute and chronic ailments, and for disorders that arise from stagnant energy and yin-yang imbalances. Offering flower essence therapists new possibilities for evaluation and treatment, this guide also helps Chinese Medicine practitioners incorporate Flower Essences into their practice.

In The Contemplative Foundations of Classical Daoism, Harold D. Roth explores the origins and nature of the Daoist tradition, arguing that its creators and innovators were not abstract philosophers but, rather, mystics engaged in self-exploration and self-cultivation, which in turn provided the insights embodied in such famed works as the Daodejing and Zhuangzi. In this compilation of essays and chapters representing nearly thirty years of scholarship, Roth examines the historical and intellectual origins of Daoism and demonstrates how this distinctive philosophy emerged directly from practices that were essentially contemplative in nature. In the first part of the book, Roth applies text-critical methods to derive the hidden contemplative dimensions of classical Daoism. In the second part, he applies a "contemplative hermeneutic" to explore the relationship between contemplative practices and classical Daoist philosophy and, in so doing, brings early Daoist writings into conversation with contemporary contemplative studies. To this he adds an introduction in which he reflects on the arc and influence on the field of early Chinese thought of this rich vein of scholarship and an afterword in which he applies both interpretive methods to the vexing question of the authorship of the Inner Chapters of the Zhuangzi. The Contemplative Foundations of Classical Daoism brings to fruition the cumulative investigations and observations of a leading figure in the emerging field of contemplative studies as they pertain to a core component of early Chinese thought.

Over two millennia ago, in troubled times not unlike our own, a mysterious figure, distinguished by a pheasant feather in his cap, emerged with poetic visions of a future world of peace and justice. Like Laozi, Pheasant Cap (Héguanzî) understood the underlying unity in things and the power of Dao to make things happen. Facing the threat of conquest by the westerly state of Qin, he looked to a messiah-like figure, the Ninth Augustan, to inaugurate a new era according to the mandate of the god Grand Unity. Here for the first time, we get an insider’s view of early Daoism as it influenced philosophy, its ideas of an interlinked cosmos, cyclical time, and the perceived role of the northern Dipper (Plough) constellation. A rediscovered early Daoist cosmic philosophy, and the messianic Nine Augustans (Jiu-Huang) with their stars in the Northern Dipper, are in this epic bilingual translation.

An international journal of general philosophy.

In this vivid, contemporary translation, Victor Mair captures the quintessential life and spirit of Chuang Tzu while remaining faithful to the original text.

"The Tao that can be spoken of is not the real Way," reads a famous line from the Tao-te-ching. But although the Tao cannot be described by words, words can allow us to catch a fleeting glimpse of that mysterious energy of the universe which is the source of life. The readings in this book are a beginner's entrée into the vast treasury of writings from the sacred Chinese tradition, consisting of original translations of excerpts from the Taoist canon. Brief introductions and notes on the translation accompany the selections from the classics; books of devotional and mystical Taoism; texts of internal alchemy; stories of Taoist immortals, magicians, and sorcerers; ethical tracts; chants and rituals; and teachings on meditation and methods of longevity.