The Encyclopedia of Taoism

The Encyclopedia of Taoism provides an overview of Taoist religion and thought through a wide selection of topics, reflects the current state of Taoist scholarship, and aims to contribute to a better understanding of this and related fields.

The book contains about 800 entries arranged in alphabetical order, an appendix, two bibliographies, a final index, and other front and back matter. With few exceptions, entries range between 250 and 2,000 words. The entries are concerned with the following subjects:

1. Surveys of major topics: ca. 75 entries
2. Schools and traditions: ca. 30 entries
3. Persons: ca. 150 entries
4. Texts: ca. 200 entries
5. Terms (including ritual and self-cultivation practices): ca. 225 entries
6. Divinities and immortals: ca. 80 entries
7. Temples: ca. 20 entries
8. Mountains: ca. 20 entries

Through a broad use of cross-references, marked by asterisks, each entry leads to other entries. A list of closely related entries is also found at the end of each entry.

Bibliographic references help to expand the amount of information gathered from the Encyclopedia. References to works in Western languages, Chinese, and Japanese are found at end of individual entries in abbreviated form (author and year); full bibliographic details are provided in a hundred-page bibliography of Taoist studies at the end of the book.

Several dozen illustrations and tables complement the entries. Both the entries and the bibliography contain Chinese and Japanese characters.

Table of Contents

Volume I

Foreword, by T.H. Barrett, vii
Contributors, xi
Introduction, xiii
Conventions, Format of the Entries, Abbreviations and Symbols, xxi
Synoptic Table of Contents, xxv
List of Illustrations, xliii
List of Tables, xlvii
Taoism: An Overview, 1
     List of entries, 3
     Entries, 5
Entries A through L, 197

Volume II

Entries M through Z, 729
Appendix: Reference Works for the Study of Taoism, 1311
Bibliographies, 1333
     Sources in the Daozang (Taoist Canon), 1335
     Abbreviations of Serials, 1361
     Studies, 1362
Periodization of Chinese History, 1465
Pinyin to Wade-Giles Conversion Table, 1473
Wade-Giles to Pinyin Conversion Table, 1477
Index, 1481

Contributors

Poul ANDERSEN    ASANO Haruji    Farzeen BALDRIAN-HUSSEIN    Tim BARRETT    Catherine BELL    Charles BENN    Stephen BOKENKAMP    Judith Magee BOLTZ    CHEN Yaoting    Philip CLART    Theodore A. COOK    Mark CSIKSZENTMIHALYI    Christopher CULLEN    Martina DARGA    Catherine DESPEUX    Ute ENGELHARDT    Grégoire ESPESSET    Monica ESPOSITO    Vincent GOOSSAERT    Caroline GYSS-VERMANDE    Elisabeth HSU    Paul KATZ    KIM Daeyeol

Russell KIRKLAND Terry KLEEMAN Livia KOHN MARUYAMA Hiroshi Amy Lynn MILLER MIURA Kunio Christine MOLLIER MUGITANI Kunio Peter NICKERSON Julian PAS Benjamin PENNY Fabrizio PREGADIO Gil RAZ Isabelle ROBINET James ROBSON SAKADE Yoshinobu Lowell SKAR Thomas E. SMITH Barend TER HAAR Elena VALUSSI YAMADA Toshiaki Robin D.S. YATES YOSHIKAWA Tadao