Posts by Purple Cloud Institute
Screen Wall 影壁
Screen Wall 影壁 Also called ‘mirroring/reflecting wall’ (zhaobi照壁), more accurately called ‘shadow wall’. I.e. a defensive barrier to counter poor fengshui conditions, usually erected in front of gateways or doors to shield an entrance in traditional Chinese architecture. There are three types of shadow walls, (1) yi-shaped shadow wall (shaped like the Chinese character for…
Read MoreMedical Bamboo Slips
Medical Bamboo Slips Medical bamboo slips (yaoqian 药籤) can be seen in temples all throughout Asia. After checking whether the day is auspicious or not, of the slips is picked at random and the number is recorded. This number can be used to either check one’s fortune in a nearby book, or will be used…
Read MoreShamans, Physicians, and Wenwu in the Huainanzi’ (Excerpt) by Justin Penoyer
A De-Virtue-Potency by Justin Penoyer (from forthcoming essay ‘Shamans, Physicians, and Wenwu in the Huainanzi’ in Legacy of Chinese Shamanism: The Wu and their Successors from Purple Cloud Press) The second category is total resonance. The Huainanzi asserts that love, the most potent form of empathetic resonance, transcends categorical distinctions (HNZ 10 ). It teaches…
Read MoreOn Death in Fengshui
On Death in Fengshui Student: When a dead person ascends after forty-nine days, does that mean that the qi comes from the physical corpse? Li Shifu(Five Immortals Temple): After forty-nine days the field of that person is gone. It is accumulated and slowly disperses. When you die in your room, but it is not a…
Read MoreThe Duke of Zhou’s Interpretation of Dreams by Nikita Bushin
The Duke of Zhou’s Interpretation of Dreams by Nikita Bushin This two-part translation of the Duke of Zhou’s Interpretation of Dreams (Zhougong jiemeng 周公解夢) is a most welcome addition to the literature on traditional Chinese folklore and its modern legacy. As we know, all humans dream, and all cultures try to make sense of their…
Read MoreShamans, Physicians, and Wenwu in the Huainanzi (Excerpt)by Justin Penoyer
De-Virtue-Potency by from the forthcoming chapter ‘Shamans, Physicians, and Wenwu in the Huainanzi’ in Legacy of Chinese Shamanism: The Wu and their Successors from Purple Cloud Press “Potency, a refined form of qi, infuses all things, enabling growth and flourishing, much like water nourishes plants. This material conceptualization of de-virtue is central to the Huangdi…
Read More21st May 2024: Birthday of Lü Dongbin
21st May 2024: Birthday of Lü Dongbin According to the Daoist tradition, the Birthday of Founding Ancestor Lü Chunyang (呂純陽祖師聖誕 Lü Chunyang Zushi Shengdan) is observed on the 14th day of the 4th Chinese lunar month which falls on May 21st this year. Below you find described the circumstances of his birth: 初，母就蓐時，異香滿室，天樂浮空。一白鶴自天而下，飛入帳中不見。生而金形木質鶴頂龜背，鳳眼朝天，雙眉入鬢。少聰明，日記萬言，矢口成文。身長八尺二寸，狀類張子房，二十不娶。始在襁褓，馬祖見曰：此兒骨相不凡，自是風塵物外。他時遇廬則居，見鍾則扣。留心記取。後遊廬山遇火龍真人，傳天遁劍法。唐會昌中兩舉進士不第。時年六十四歲，遊長安酒肆，見一羽士青巾白袍，偶書絕句於壁曰:坐臥常攜酒一壺，不教雙眼識皇都。乾坤許大無名姓，疏散人間一丈夫。洞賓訝其狀貌奇古，詩意飄逸，因揖問姓氏。羽士曰：吾雲房先生也，居在終 南鶴嶺。子能從遊乎？ At…
Read MoreExcerpt from Legacy of Chinese Shamanism: The Wu and their Successors
On Wuism in China The wu, from the earliest records available to us from the Shang Dynasty through to the imperial writings, have been associated with a wide sphere of activities that include divination, sorcery, exorcism, rainmaking, medicine and, in its most denigrated and denounced form, what we might call ‘witchcraft’ in the West .…
Read MoreAustralian Taoist Cultural Festival
Australian Taoist Cultural Festival The recent Australian Taoist Cultural Festival was an amazing, surreal and exhausting experience. Many worked hard behind the scenes to make this happen, and it was really a testament to the spirit of the international Daoist community. I would like to thank Meixi Yan Huizhang and everyone else who’s hard work…
Read MoreExcerpt from Legends of White Horse Mountain by Johan Hausen and Rachel Woo
Legends of White Horse Mountain (2024 forthcoming): 传说，白马山是由天马所变。很久以前十堰、竹山、郧县一带，有一黄龙兴风作浪，连年大发洪水，庄稼整日浸在水里，使百姓们不得安生，苦不堪言。。。 Legend has it that White Horse Mountain was transformed by a heavenly horse. A very long time ago on Mount Bamboo, in Shiyan, in the region around Yun County, there was a yellow dragon that stirred up trouble, causing great floods year after year. The farm crops…
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