Trey Smith
This seems to Baroness Radon Day!
One of the things she takes me to task about frequently is my lack of understanding of Chinese civilization, history and culture. All I can say is that I am guilty as charged! Like most westerners, most things Asian are foreign to me.
We westerners are highly ethnocentric and this is displayed in our educational system. While we study European history from top to bottom, there usually is scant mention of anything in the East nor much about Africa and South America. What this means is that most of us in the US (and Europe) have many blind spots when it comes to the totality of human history and thought.
This is the primary reason that I hope Baroness Radon will be able to find the time to write a series of posts about ancient and not so ancient Chinese history and civilization. Once equipped with a better understanding of such things, I know that it will impact the way I view the Taoist philosophy and it may change some of your views as well.
And let me say that I do understand one of her chief critiques of westernized Taoism. When an individual does not understand the cultural milieu that formed the foundation of and gave rise to a religion or philosophy, it will mean that several of the ideas and concepts will be misunderstood or misconstrued. There really isn't a way that this can be avoided...until a person gets a better handle on the information that is missing.
That said, even with this acknowledgment, I still contend that many -- though certainly not all -- of the basic concepts of a religion and/or philosophy can be understood by those outside of a given culture. While learning more about Chinese history and culture will allow us to better understand the classic Taoist texts, there is still much we can get from them IF we approach the topic with an open mind and heart.
I found '1421' Menzies, G (2003) [a Royal Navy CO, educated in seamanship, cartography & astro-navigation] very helpful in this regard.
ReplyDeleteIt is a fascinating recount of how Chinese attitudes informed their circumnavigation of the globe - something that Scott might share a few yarns of. Interestingly where Cortes et al embarked on their "Voyages of Discovery" after gold & territories the Chinese spent as much effort on "Scientific" research eg to included data such as which plants grow at the surface indicating which minerals (such as gold) could be found underground.
I also enjoy Chinese history and culture, though I am still a student and my knowledge is not comprehensive. I look forward to Baroness' posts on the subject. I also like to blog on the subject once and a while, maybe she would like to guest post on my blog is well, though I don't have any real readers, only image hits :(
ReplyDeleteOh no! I guess I am committed.
ReplyDeleteYa know, that could be taken more than one way. ;-)
DeleteReally looking forward to this series!
ReplyDeleteSadly I know almost nothing about Chinese history.