TAOISTS OF THE HIGH T'ANG: AN INQUIRY INTO THE PERCEIVED SIGNIFICANCE OF EMINENT TAOISTS IN MEDIEVAL CHINESE SOCIETY

This study seeks to contribute to the understanding of the Taoist tradition and Chinese cultural history through an analysis of the biographies of seven Taoists of the high T'ang dynasty (705-756 CE). The seven subjects include the ecclesiastical leaders Ssu-ma Ch'eng-chen and Li Han-kuang the poet Wu Yun the high official Ho Chih-chang the wonder-worker Yeh Fa-shan the recluse Wang Hsi-i and the pious female Taoist Huang Ling-wei. The biographical materials examined include memorial inscriptions (and other near-contemporary appreciations), and biographical accounts preserved in religious texts, literary anthologies, and official historical compilations (such as the T'ang dynastic histories). More than two dozen biographies are translated, and numerous other accounts are summarized.Taoists have long been viewed as self-centered individuals who sought personal spiritual development with little or no concern for others. But the present research discloses a common assumption that Taoists espoused and embodied values harmonious with those of society at large, particularly the values of Confucian literati and of the imperial state itself. Taoists were viewed as responsible members of society, whose moral and intellectual attainments made them welcome in court society. Because the T'ang rulers desired to be esteemed as sage-kings who were supported by illustrious worthies, they frequently summoned Taoists to court. Consequently, later Confucian historians adduced such Taoists as exemplars of the ideal of dedication to the throne. The findings of this study suggest a need to rethink many common assumptions concerning the role of Taoism in traditional Chinese society.The purpose of the study was to discover the role(s) which Taoists were perceived to play in Chinese society, and thereby to determine why such Taoists were regarded as significant and memorable members of society. The research compared the treatment which the figures received during their lifetimes with the manner in which their lives were presented in later biographical materials. The textual analyses were designed to circumvent the idiosyncrasies and ideological biases of individual biographers in order to discern perspectival continuities which reveal general cultural patterns.