The Daodejing, Daoism, and the Restoration of Humanity in the Asian Healing Arts: With Translation and Commentary on the Text
The Daodejing, Daoism, and the Restoration of Humanity in the Asian Healing Arts
The Dàodéjīng may be THE most important book ever written. As the oldest book of Chinese Daoism, it comes from a time before philosophy and religion were separated; and it contains in seminal form all of the important concepts for the internal arts of ancient China including painting, calligraphy, poetry, architecture, Fēngshuǐ, cooking, love making, politics, warfare, and especially the healing arts of acupuncture, meditation, Qìgōng and Tàijíquán. This book presents Dennis Willmont’s original translation complete with Pinyin, Chinese characters, and chapter commentaries as well as an in-depth study of the cultural background that helps to explain the meaning of the text on the profound level it deserves. Continued in additional info…
Reviews
“In a time when we are forgetting the value and mystery of Life, when the very root of Life is at stake, it is my deepest honor and pleasure to enter this meticulous and careful conversation with Antiquity. This is a book to restore the root and purpose of any practitioner of Chinese medicine. Dennis opens the conversation between Lǎozi’s instructions, the acupuncture points, and the practices of inner cultivation and brings deep inquiry into the practice of acupuncture. A conversation through time, this work comes alive, forward, backward, inward outward, from Heaven to Earth and back again. Within the detail and devotion of his scholarship he guards the secrets of life.”
—Laura Clarke Stelmok, LicAc.(UK), M.Ac, Dipl.Ac.; Program Director of The Unseen Hand: Medicine from Antiquity, A Gathering of Physicians, Artists and Scribes
“I’ve known Dennis Willmont for thirty years. It would appear that he has spent much of that time studying, teaching, writing and compiling Daoist teaching and healing arts, as he has amassed a veritable encyclopedia of knowledge in his voluminous work on the Dàodéjīng. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a comprehensive guide and historical analysis of Daoism and Daoist medicine. Practical in orientation, both practitioners and laypersons will gain value from this book.”
—Z’ev Rosenberg, L. Ac.; Professor, Alembic Institute; Senior researcher, Xinglin Institute; Chair Emeritus/Pacific College of Oriental Medicine
“This work is an exploration of a here to date inadequately discussed component of East Asian Medicine. It goes into meticulous detail in understanding the Dàodéjīng, its author, and the text’s position within the broader East Asian philosophical tradition. Dennis grounds the mystical culture surrounding the Dàodéjīng within the worldview of the ancients and connects this worldview with the traditional healing arts. Based on this solid foundation, Dennis then turns to the text of the Dàodéjīng itself. He presents each of the 81 verses and expounds on them so that a modern reader can come to a fuller understanding within a deep context of both culture and medicine. Experienced practitioners and well as academicians will find this a fascinating and useful text. It should be seen as an embodiment of the living tradition of Daoist medicine brought forth by someone who has devoted his life to illuminating the remnants of the classical approach.”
—Steve Jackowicz, M.AC., L.Ac., Ph.D.; Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Bridgeport Acupuncture Institute
"As it was presented to me in acupuncture school, the Daodejing is a prescription for following the “middle path.” As I learned from Dennis Willmont’s latest book, The Dàodéjīng, Daoism, and the Restoration of Humanity in the Asian Healing Arts, it is so much more than that. Although my instructors recognized it as an important Chinese book, no one ever made a connection between the practice of acupuncture and the information contained within the Dàodéjīng. Not only was it not part of our education, we were not even encouraged to read it; and there was never any suggestion that it might affect how we practice. Dennis Willmont’s text corrects that omission, and in the process he restores dimensionality to our medicine.
Acupuncture, as it is taught in our schools, essentially is technique. Yes, it is complex and sophisticated; but we come away from our education with the sense that acupuncture is a neatly circumscribed discipline. This is why non-acupuncturists see it as a method that can be applied by rote or recipe. In part, I believe it is our fault that they see our profession that way, though certainly it is not intentional. This is how it was taught to us, and this is how we pass it down to others.
We cannot blame the schools for this. Our instructors also were not taught the wholeness of our medicine, even those who studied in China. As Willmont explains, the change in the written language made by the Chinese Communists during the Cultural Revolution destroyed the threads of linguistic meaning that came down to the average person in China, unchanged through thousands of years. Now the only people who can decipher the true meanings of the classic texts are people who learned the Chinese language as it was written prior to the Cultural Revolution, or those who emigrated to Taiwan. Fortunately for us, Dennis Willmont is one of these people. As an acupuncturist in practice for over 40 years, and as a scholar who has studied the Dàodéjīng in all its aspects for over 50 years, he is able to present to us the richness of the Daodejing and make it relevant to our daily work.
When the written Chinese language lost its integrity, we also lost the original meanings of the acupuncture point names. Willmont explains these point names for us; they are so much more than poetry and metaphor. This information alone makes Willmont’s book an important text; but he does not stop there. He also shows us how the richness of acupuncture practice has been lost, and he begins the process of returning it to its power. From a complete medicine practiced in many styles to treat all ailments, it was reduced over the centuries to a fraction of what it was, simplified, and demoted to a less powerful medicine than herbs. In studying the Dàodéjīng, Willmont is recovering what we have lost and restoring acupuncture to the powerful medicine it once was. He returns to us the pieces of our medicine that have been lopped off, such as Daoist meditation and inner alchemy. His discussion of the history, politics, and meaning of the Dàodéjīng illuminates the relationship of acupuncture to the bāguà, the Yìjīng, Daoism, the Five Elements, the levels of disease, and the restoration of health to society as well as to the individual.
Though we talk about how acupuncture developed within a philosophical, cultural, and political context, we do not really understand that context or what it means for the way we practice. Willmont shows us, in great and exquisite detail, where our medicine belongs in the scheme of things. Acupuncture is one element in a rich tapestry of medical practice that is much more expansive than we realize, embracing meditation, Qìgōng, inner alchemy, and a conceptual framework for understanding wellness and how to foster it. The Dàodéjīng is the warp of this tapestry, the foundation upon which our medicine was built. The Dàodéjīng shows us how all the elements of our medicine are woven together, both in the way we practice it and in the way we live our lives. The practitioner who understands the Dàodéjīng practices a very different kind of medicine from the practitioner who simply puts acupuncture needles into points. The Dàodéjīng explains not just which points to use, when, and how; it also teaches the practitioner the proper way to approach healing.
A small example of how Willmont’s book has altered my practice forever is in the application of the concept of “spontaneity.” Many acupuncturists have accidentally invoked spontaneity in their treatments. We have stumbled upon it without knowing what we are doing and without being able to replicate the experience. We recognize it as important, but not knowing what we did (or, more accurately, did not do), we are unable to do (i.e., not do) it again. I am not making a joke or playing with words. This is a serious concept that is taught in the Dàodéjīng in chapter after chapter. Willmont helps us to understand its importance and gives us the tools to become spontaneous in our treatments. Primary among these tools is a proper application of Qìgōng and meditation to the practice of acupuncture. We are taught in school that Qìgōng is important for our work as acupuncturists, but we are never taught how they are connected. We proceed through the decades of our careers practicing acupuncture and practicing Qìgōng and never putting them together. We come out of school crippled and remain crippled throughout our careers. Again, it is not the fault of our instructors, as they are crippled in this way, too.
My practice is largely orthopedic, and I do a lot of work with my hands in addition to needles. Since I am just beginning to think about how to apply the concept of spontaneity in my treatments, my ability to be spontaneous is unreliable. Yet just the awareness of the need to be spontaneous and the willingness to allow the Qì to go where it will has resulted in more profound treatment sessions with better outcomes achieved more easily. Patients notice the difference and remark on it, and they respond differently to my touch. They are much more likely to enter a state of altered consciousness, quickly; and we are more attuned and responsive to each other. Spontaneity, even in the hands of a novice, raises the level of practice in acupuncture above the mechanical variations otherwise practiced. This is just one example of how Willmont is restoring our medicine to its fullness.
The Dàodéjīng, Daoism, and the Restoration of Humanity in the Asian Healing Arts is, in my opinion, the most important book on the Daodejing that has ever been written. It should be a required text in every acupuncture school across the globe. As other professions try to co-opt acupuncture and incorporate it as a technique into their own scopes of practice, it is essential that we understand, appreciate, and demonstrate to the world the true depth and power of our medicine. If it is powerful as a technique, just imagine the good that can be done when its modern practitioners are able to use it the way it was practiced millennia ago. I can only wonder what kind of acupuncturist I might have become had I learned the information in this volume at the beginning of my career rather than at the end."
—Mary J. Rogel Ph.D., L.Ac, Editor of the Oriental Medicine Journal
Features
Table of Contents
Part I: Cultural Background of the Dàodéjīng
Basic Meaning of the Text 20
Thematic Context 20
Integration of the Ancient Schools 21
Thematic Context Outline 22
Thematic Context Terms 27
Early Culture 30
Dynastic Periods 30
Xià Dynasty (2205 BCE-1818 BCE) 30
Shāng Dynasty (1766-1122 BCE) 30
The Zhōu Dynasty (1122-256 BCE) 31
The Warring States Period (403-222 BCE) 33
Qín Dynasty (221-207 BCE) 35
Hàn Dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) 36
Period of Disunity (220-618 CE) 39
Southern and Northern Dynasties (420 to 589 CE) 40
Suí Dynasty (589-618 CE) 40
Táng Dynasty (618-905 CE) 41
Sòng Dynasty (960-1279 CE) 42
Yuán Dynasty (1271-1368 CE) 43
Míng Dynasty (1368–1644 CE) 45
Thematic Overview of Chinese Cultural History 46
Important Early Daoist Texts 52
Guǎnzi (400-200 BCE) 52
Zhuāngzǐ (399-295 BCE) 52
Huáinánzǐ (139 BCE) 52
Lièzĭ (300 CE) 53
Dàozáng (1016-1607 CE) 53
Important Early Confucians 55
Confucianism in General 55
Confucius (551-479 BCE) 55
Mòzǐ (479-381 BCE) 57
Mencius (371-289 BCE) 58
Xúnzǐ (340-245 BCE) 58
Daoist Background of the Dàodéjīng 60
Philosophical and Religious Daoism 60
Political Alliance 61
Timelines 61
Lineages 62
General 62
Celestial Masters (Tiān Shī Dào 天師道―142 CE) 64
Highest Purity (Shàngqīng 上清―304 CE) 65
Numinous Treasure (Lìngbǎo 靈寶―400 CE) 69
Complete Perfection (Quánzhēn 全眞―1159 CE, Sòng Dynasty) 69
Summary 73
Historical Basis of the Author 74
Lǎozi in History 75
Source Text 75
Pre-Hàn Dynasty Texts 77
Hàn Dynasty Texts 78
Post-Hàn Dynasty Texts 78
Summary 74
Lǎozi in Myth 78
Overview 78
Magical Practitioners 79
Political Elite 84
Supernatural Status 84
Relationship with Buddhism 84
The Yǐn Xǐ Geneology of Early Daoism 86
Place and Date of Birth 87
The Deification of Lǎozi 89
The Disappearance of Lǎozi 98
A Normal Death 98
Journey to the West 99
Important Places 102
Dragon Horn Mountain 102
Hángǔ Pass 102
Lóuguàn 102
Historical Basis of the Text 103
About the Text 105
Original Form 105
Organization: Section and Chapter Divisions 106
Style 106
Transmissions 106
Mǎwángduī 107
Guōdiàn 107
Differences Between the Mǎwángduī and Guōdiàn Transmissions 107
Western Translations 107
Dating of the Text 108
Variations on Dàodéjīng Themes 109
Historical Use of the Text 110
Importance of the Text for the General Public and Daoism 110
Use by Daoist Sects 111
Major Historical Commentaries 112
General 112
Héshàng Gōng 113
Wángbì 115
The Dàodéjīng as Core Daoist Healing Text 115
Political Rule and Daoism in Ancient China 121
Influence of the King 121
Source of Authority 121
Ruler of the Heart 122
When Lǎozi Becomes a God 123
Body/Mind/Spirit Methods and Applications 127
Natural Healing and Worldview 127
Dual Cultivation and the Unique Principle of Yin and Yang 131
Body: Food and Herbs 139
Traditional Approach 139
Modern Applications: Georges Ohsawa and the Macrobiotic Way of Life 141
Mind: Virtue/Empowerment, Worldview, and Daoist Psychology 144
Etymology and Definition of Dé 144
Confucian Conceptions of Virtue as Morality 145
Daoist Conceptions of Virtue 147
The Five Constant Virtues 149
Zhì/Wisdom and Gratitude 150
Rén/Humanity and Infinite Freedom 152
Lǐ/Appropriateness and Eternal Happiness 153
Xìn/Accountability and Faith 154
Yì/Righteousness, Justice, and the Seven Levels of Judgment 155
Virtue and the Mandate of Heaven 158
Spirit: Meditation, Qìgōng, and Alchemy 160
Meditation 160
Methods 162
Breath 163
Stretching and Relaxing 164
Mantra and Chanting 164
Visualization 165
Talismans 166
Asceticism 168
Healing 168
Qìgōng 170
Definition 170
Dǎoyǐn 170
Other Forms 171
Examples 172
History 173
Timeline of Events 175
Fǎlún Gōng 177
Inner Alchemy 180
Definition 180
Goals 182
History 182
Texts and Schools 183
First Texts 183
Celestial Masters (142 CE in the Hàn Dynasty) 185
Highest Purity (304 CE) 186
Three Caverns 186
Complete Perfection (1159 CE in the Sòng Dynasty) 186
Modern Times 187
Methods 187
Outer Alchemy 187
Inner Alchemy 190
Stages of Inner Alchemy 192
Preparation: Creating the Cauldron and the Inner Smile 192
The Microcosmic Orbit 193
Five Phase Fusion 194
Meditational Alchemy 198
Macrocosmic Orbit 205
Greater Macrocosmic Orbit 207
Transformation of the Three Treasures 209
Lǎozi as a Profound Symbol of Chinese Culture 215
An Historical Perspective of Lǎozi 215
The Yellow Emperor (Huángdì 黃帝) 215
Fúxī 伏羲 215
Record Keepers and Astrologers 215
Immortality Practices 216
The Buddha 217
The Hángǔ Pass 217
The Meaning of Lǎozi Riding the Ox through the Hángǔ Pass 218
The Conversion of the Barbarians 218
The Ox in the Cycles of the Five Phases 218
The Ox in the Chinese Zodiac 219
The Weaving Maiden and Cowherd Boy 219
The Birthing of the Immortal Fetus in Inner Alchemy 220
The Meaning of These Legends in Terms of Lǎozi as the “Old Child” 220
Acupuncture 225
Principles 225
The Manifestation Sequence and the Seventy-One Meridians of Acupuncture 225
The Three Levels of Healing in Acupuncture 227
The Symptomatic and Preventive Levels 227
The Spiritual Level 228
Reciprocal Imagery Between the Points and Themes of the Text 229
Identification between Lǎozi and the Shén/Spirit of the Heart 230
Oneness and the Navel Center 232
Receiving Nourishment from the One 235
Polarization Legends Common to the Meridian System and the Dàodéjīng 237
Daoist Divinities and the Acupuncture Points 241
Eight Acupuncture Dào Formulas 242
General Principles 242
Yang Treatments 243
(1) Dào Treatment: Builds the Yang of the Main Supporting Organs (12 Points) 243
(2) The Golden Elixir Treatment (12 Points) 244
Yin Treatments 248
(3) Seven Emotions Treatment: Builds Yin of the Main Organs (13 Points) 248
(4) The Great One Treatment (14 Points) 249
Balanced Treatments 253
(5) The Virtue/Empowerment Treatment (14 Points) 253
(6) The Big Bell Treatment: Fulfilling Inner Potential (16 Points) 255
(7) The Heavenly Ancestor Treatment: God as Lǎozi is Within (10 Points) 262
(8) Deities as Ancestors Treatment (9 Points) 264
The Classical Chinese Language as Worldview 267
General 267
History 268
The Spoken Language 269
Symbolism in Language 270
Challenges in Translating 272
Chapter Titles 277
Part II: The Text and Commentaries 280
Book One: “The Book of Dào” 280
Chapter 1 (1:1)―The Dào that Has No Name 280
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 2 (1:2)―The Hidden Perfection of Yin and Yang 286
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 3 (1:3)―Acting with Non-Action 288
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 4 (1:4)―The Pattern/Template of the Lord 292
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 5 (1:5)―Straw Dogs 294
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 6 (1:6)―The Spirit of the Valley 298
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 7 (1:7)―Leaving Yourself Behind 302
Commentary
Translation
Chapter 8 (1:8)―The Highest Good is like Water 304
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 9 (1:9)―Filling a Hall with Gold and Jade 308
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 10 (2:1)―Mysterious Virtue 310
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 11 (2:2)―The Thirty Spokes of a Single Wheel 314
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 12 (2:3)―The Belly of the Sage 316
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 13 (2:4)―Valuing Great Suffering 318
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 14 (2:5)―Knowing the Ancient Beginning 322
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 15 (2:6)―The Simplicity of a Woodcutter 328
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 16 (2:7)―Returning to Destiny 332
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 17 (2:8)―Accountability 334
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 18 (2:9)―Confusion and Disorder in the Kingdom 336
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 19 (3:1)―Limiting Desire 338
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 20 (3:2)―The Infant Child Who has not Laughed 340
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 21 (3:3)―The Accountability of the Vague and Elusive 342
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 22 (3:4)―Becoming the Model for Everyone 346
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 23 (3:5)―The Whirlwind and the Thunderstorm 350
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 24 (3:6)―Excess Nourishment and Useless Activities 352
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 25 (3:7)―The Mother of the World 354
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 26 (3:8)―Showing Your Lightness to the World 356
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 27 (3:9)―Depending on the Good 358
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 28 (4:1)―The Greatest Tailor Never Cuts 362
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 29 (4:2)―The Spirit Vessel of the World 364
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 30 (4:3)―Using Strength through Weapons 366
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 31 (4:4)―Abiding with the Funeral Rites 368
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 32 (4:5)―The Dào that has No Name 370
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 33 (4:6)―He Who Dies But Doesn’t Perish 372
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 34 (4:7)―Without Acting as their Ruler 374
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 35 (4:8)―The Pattern/Template of the World 376
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 36 (4:9)―The Fish Cannot Escape from the Depths 378
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 37 (5:1)―Quietude 382
Translation
Commentary
Book Two: “The Book of Dé” 384
Chapter 38 (5:2)―High and Low Virtue 384
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 39 (5:3)―Attaining Oneness 388
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 40 (5:4)―The Movement of Dào is in Returning 392
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 41 (5:5)―When the Scholar/Warrior Hears of the Dào 394
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 42 (5:6)―The Manifestation Sequence 398
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 43 (5:7)―The Benefits of Non-Action 400
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 44 (5:8)―Valuing the Real Self 402
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 45 (5:9)―Stillness Rectifies the World 404
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 46 (6:1)―War Horses Breeding on the Frontier 406
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 47 (6:2)―Knowing the World without Leaving the Door 408
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 48 (6:3)―Through Non-Action, Nothing is Left Undone 410
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 49 (6:4)―Being Good to Those Who are Not Good 412
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 50 (6:5)―The Tiger Finds No Place to Claw 414
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 51 (6:6)―Giving Life to the Ten Thousand Things 418
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 52 (6:7)―The Mother of the World 420
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 53 (6:8)―Braggers and Thieves 422
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 54 (6:9)―Cultivating Virtue 424
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 55 (7:1)―Poisonous Insects and Snakes 426
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 56 (7:2)―The Mysterious Union 430
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 57 (7:3)―Self-Rectification 436
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 58 (7:4)―Making Things Square Without Cutting 440
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 59 (7:5)―Preventive Medicine 442
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 60 (7:6)―Cooking a Small Fish 444
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 61 (7:7)―Seeking the Lowest Level 446
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 62 (7:8)―Making Obeisance with the Jade Disc 448
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 63 (7:9)―Taking Care of Things While They are Small 450
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 64 (8:1)―The Journey of a Thousand Miles 452
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 65 (8:2)―Returning to the Great Beginning 456
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 66 (8:3)―Putting Yourself Last 458
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 67 (8:4)―The Three Treasures 460
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 68 (8:5)―Using the Force of Others 464
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 69 (8:6)―Baring Arms without Rolling up the Sleeves 466
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 70 (8:7)―Keeping Jade in the Bosom 468
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 71 (8:8)―Being Sick of Being Sick 470
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 72 (8:9)―When a Greater Majesty Will Arrive 472
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 73 (9:1)―The Spreading of Heaven’s Net 474
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 74 (9:2)―The Official Executioner 476
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 75 (9:3)―Acting with no Regard for Life 478
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 76 (9:4)―Disciples of the Living and the Dead 480
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 77 (9:5)―Handling a Stretched Bow 482
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 78 (9:6)―Ruler over the Gods 484
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 79 (9:7)―Holding the Left Tally 486
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 80 (9:8)―O for a Small Kingdom 488
Translation
Commentary
Chapter 81 (9:9)―Being without Contention or Suffering 490
Translation
Commentary
Appendix 492
Basic Pronunciation 492
Thematic Context According to Terms 493
Important Names 498
People 498
Places 500
Texts 501
Bibliography 504
Index 518
Endnotes 526
