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H-ASIA August 8, 1995 Latest issue of _Acta Asiatica_: Special issue on Taoism, scholarship from Japan ************************************************************************* From: Nathan Sivin <nsivin@sas.upenn.edu> The special issue (no. 68, 1995) of _Acta Asiatica_ on "The Basic Structure of Taoism" is worth a careful reading. It is in a sense a manifesto of the younger Japanese scholars of Taoism, who are in many ways moving beyond the fixed beliefs of the generation that was marvelously innovative in many ways but quite out of step with the rest of the world in others. It contains some very important studies of early ritual. It also argues that one can speak of a Taoist religion, that had definitively separated from popular religion, only in the fifth century, when masters started using _tao chiao_ to refer to themselves. I don't think this argument holds water, but no one can ignore it. The issue also reveals an important shortcoming of this generation of Taoism scholars now in their 40's and 50's. With the exception of Fukui Fumimasa, the authors of this volume do not acknowledge even the most important work done outside of Japan. This is a serious problem, since not enough scholars outside of Japan are keeping up with the research, substantial in quality and large in quantity, going on there. Without more reaching across borders, the field will never approach its potential. -- Nathan Sivin History and Sociology of Science University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia PA 19104-3325 ---- Ed. note: _Acta asiatica_ The Bulletin of the Institute of Eastern Culture, is published in Tokyo by Toho Gakkai. ISSN 0567-7254. F.F.C. ================================================================= To post to H-ASIA send your message to H-ASIA@msu.edu To temporarily interrupt your H-ASIA service for holidays send a posting to <listserv@msu.edu> with the message: SET H-ASIA NOMAIL When you return and wish to resume H-ASIA service send a similar posting with message: SET H-ASIA MAIL Private questions should go to: conlon@u.washington.edu
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