Title

The Historical Context of the Writing of the Pao-p’u Tzu Nei-p’ien : The Religious and Social Meanings of Ko Hung’s Beliefs of Hsien immortals

Author

Chin-tim Lai

Genre

Article  

Pages

35-58

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Language

Chinese

Key words

Ko Hung, Pao-p’u Tzu Nei-p’ien , Early Medieval Taoism, hsien -immortality, alchemy, issues of life and death and Chinese religion

Abstract

      This article aims at an re-examination of the historical context of Ko Hung’s (A.D. 283-343) Pao-p’u Tzu Nei-p’ien. The author will study how Ko Hung’s biographical background, especially his individual relationship with society and family, shaped his formulation of the religion of hsien-immortals in the Pao-p’u Tzu Nei-p’ien. The purpose of this article is to given an alternative study of Ko Hung, which is not based upon the general explanatory model related to the viewpoint of the historical development of Taoism in the early medieval China. Analyzed from Ko Hung’s individual background and the social and intellectual milieu he lived, this article attempts to show why he believed, pursued, and promoted the idea of hsien-immortality and what are the religious and social meanings underlined in Ko Hung’s discourse of hsien-immortality.