Studies On The Religious Thought In The Note Stories Of Taoism

The note stories in ancient China are a material treasury for the study of ancient culture. These materials, however, were not given due attention in the past Taoist studies. In recent years, though studies on Taoist note stories have gained considerable achievements, most studies have copied the same approaches as in traditional story studies instead of giving highlight to the unique religious content and literary aesthetic values of Taoist note stories. In view of this, the present article decides to abandon the literary standard approaches but plans to study the Taoist note stories with a religious standard approach, that is, using the Taoist note stories as the material basis for the study of Taoist thinking so as to make a new observation through these materials and display the living patterns of Taoism in ancient culture. The article consists of seven chapters.The first chapter has mainly analyzed the relationship between materials and academic studies, the losses and gains of studies by using different materials. It has also discussed the importance of story materials for Taoist studies. In addition, the chapter has also given a brief review of and comment on the domestic and foreign studies on Taoist stories.The second chapter has firstly defined the category of note stories and established the concept of Taoist note story. Secondly, it has also determined the study scope of Taoist note stories, formulated four criteria for distingui- shing Taoistnote stories, and divided them into five types, namely, society- helping, Taoism-practicing, Immortality-visiting, immortality-banishing and religion-assisting. Finally, the chapter has systematically expounded the relationship between the Taoist note stories and the Taoist thought, the relation- ship between Taoist note stories and the Taoist way of thinking, the relation- ship between Taoist note stories and the Taoist history of development and the relationship between Taoist note stories and the introduction of Taoism.The third chapter has chiefly studied the society-helping type of Taoist note stories. The thought of society-saving is the high religious advocate of Taoism. Based on the thought of immortality saving the world, a type of stories close in ideological content and artistic style was produced in ancient note stories, that is, society-helping Taoist note stories. Immortality saving society from natural disasters, immortality helping people from society disasters, immortality suppressing evils and immortality converting people into immortals are the four most popular themes in the society-helping type of Taoist note stories. As a kind of religious literature, society-helping Taoist note story has its unique religious implication, which is its essential feature distinctive from worldly literature.The fourth chapter has focused on the study of Taoism-practicing note stories. Taoism-practicing is one of the central beliefs of Taoism. In ancient note stories a type of stories with contents of practicing Taoism and becoming immortality is formulated based on the idea of Taoism-practicing, that is, the type of Taoism-practicing note stories. The chapter has made a systematical investigation of this type of Taoist note stories from the method, the moral requirement and the religious ordeal of practicing Taoism and becoming immortality, and revealed the unique religious implication and literary value of the Taoism-practicing note stories.The fifth chapter has studied in the main the immortality-visiting type of Taoist note stories. The Taoist idea of immortal realm is the most important ideological model of the immortality-visiting stories. Entering by chance theimmortal realm is the most constantly seen incident in this type of stories. Besides, often seen are such incidents as the visitors guided by the immortality into the immortal realm and the practiser entering immortal realm by seeking and visiting immortality or dreaming of immortal realm in this type of stories. The religious characteristics expressed in these stories are imbued with a tendency of progressive increase.The sixth chapter has discussed immortality-banishing type of Taoist note stories. Taoism, while providing the progress from human being to immortality, also sets up an opposite movement from immortality to human being. This is the Taoist thought of immortality-banishing, which is mainly preserved in those note stories telling immortality-banishment. It is expounded chiefly through the following two major themes: atonement through banishment to the human world and love affairs between immortality and human being. With historical development, a kind of change to secularization appeared in the immortality-banishing stories, which made the religious sense of the stories getting lesser and lesser and the their literary coloring stronger and stronger.The seventh chapter has mainly studied the religion-assisting type of Taoist note stories. Mature religion has a self-conscious demand to raise its own status. This demand, after being put into practice, becomes a kind of religion-assisting act. As to Taoism, this kind of religion-assisting activity, when expressed in the form of note stories, becomes the religion-assisting type of Taoist note stories. The present chapter has systematically investigated the religion-assisting type of Taoist note stories from the four aspects: Taoism-promotion, efficaciousness-claiming, sorcery-expelling and Buddhism-denying.The last part of the thesis has summarized the position of Taoist note stories in Chinese aesthetic culture, their aesthetic characteristics and their influence. The Taoist note stories are an important component part of the Chinese aesthetic culture. Their aesthetic features are concentratedly embodied in the image of immortality as the incarnation of " Tao-Beauty", in the environment of thestories—the integration of natural beauty and immortal beauty, in the aesthetic concern for life with "life-beauty" as the core and in the moral aesthetic concern with " benevolence-beauty" as the core. The Taoist note stories have exerted important influence on the promotion of Taoist culture, on the modeling of national belief of the Chinese people, on the formulation of our national aesthetic interest and on the development of China's ancient classic literature.