A Daoist way of transcendence: Bai Yuchan's inner alchemical thought and practice

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the religious ideas, approaches, and experience of Bai Yuchan, a distinguished Daoist figure in Southern Song times. The inquiry focuses on the ways in which Bai Yuchan expressed his ultimate concern---pursuing the transcendence, eternal nature-life, and salvation. The important role Bai Yuchan played in the dynamics of religious diversity in the social-cultural-intellectual milieu is also explored.; This thesis employs an approach of multifaceted access and centralized assessment to discover Bai Yuchan's complex innermost world by investigating different facets, including historical, bibliographical, philosophical, literary, and religious studies. Chapter One outlines the life of Bai Yuchan. The historical issue of Bai Yuchan's life and his spiritual journey as symbolic endeavor are investigated. His efforts in establishing the new religious organization, the Daoist "Southern Lineage," is also given attention.; Chapter Two examines in detail Bai Yuchan's main works from various sources and his efforts for establishing the spiritual authority for literature of the "Southern Lineage." Chapter Three explores Bai Yuchan's views of inner alchemy by examining his theoretical framework, principles, and approaches. Bai's attitude towards two other great Chinese traditions, Neo-Confucianism and Chan Buddhism, are also analyzed. Bai Yuchan's system of inner alchemy is sketched in Chapter Four. The essentials, methods, and procedures of inner alchemy as well as cosmological notions and alchemical symbolism are interpreted. Chapter Five concerns Bai Yuchan's religious experience through Daoist ritual practice, focusing on the Thunder rites. The connections of Bai with the school of Divine Empyrean and the Thunder ritual systems are illustrated. The requisites and the approaches for Daoist ritual practice are summarized. The central function of the inner cultivation for the Daoist ritual practice in Bai's teachings is emphasized. The conclusion emerges from the discussion of characteristics of Bai Yuchan's ultimate concern for transcendence and salvation as his unique reflection on his own inner and outer worlds. The contributions of Bai's inner alchemical thought and practice to the development of Daoism and the history of Chinese culture and society are accordingly assessed.