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Post by Shi Da Dao on Aug 6, 2012 22:20:20 GMT 1
These are all very good points. Charles Luk's take on Daoist Yoga is very much influenced by Ch'an Buddhism. This is my article discussed above, which has been published in Qi: The Journal of Traditional Eastern Health & Fitness - Summer Edition 2012:  chandao.co.uk/documents/Daoist_Immortal.pdfIt explains how our Ch'an lineage utilises the teachings of Daoist Yoga (neidan). |
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Post by Xian on Aug 10, 2012 8:12:24 GMT 1
In all of this discussion an interesting point is emerging, namely that Zhao Bichen's Daoist cultivation is not necessarily a typical representation of Daoist Yoga and as such, can not be limited to any typical definition of the subject. Take for instance the translations of Eva Wong, her work clearly shows in English what typical Daoist texts can be like, particularly The Seven Daoist Masters. The tone of these texts is very different to Zhao's neidan as translated by Charles Luk. Lack of familiarity of certain Chinese terms in the English language is to be expected at first contact. I mean Wilhelm's Secret of the Golden Flower lacks an indepth understanding of the original Chinese text, and it shows in the translation. Charles Luk, on the other hand, actually practiced the neidan method that he is translating, as explained by Zhao himself. I think that it is a valid observation that Ch'an Buddhism should not be over-looked when it comes to understanding Zhao Bichen's neidan - it might well be the missing piece of the jigsaw. If Zhao's text is translated without a thorough understanding of exactly how Ch'an Buddhism has influenced its construction, then any translation will be incomplete.
PS: I see from Shi Da Dao's above article that Charles Luk either trained with Zhao Bichen, or one of his students - is there any more details about this?
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Aug 11, 2012 9:04:03 GMT 1
PS: I see from Shi Da Dao's above article that Charles Luk either trained with Zhao Bichen, or one of his students - is there any more details about this? An interesting question. From what I can gather from my notes - which have been gathered from conversations with Richard Hunn over a 16 year period - the answer is probably 'both'. Master Zhao Bichen was already 38 years old when Charles Luk was born, but when a young man in his early 20's, Charles was introduced to Zhao Bichen and received instruction in Daoist neidan. After this, master Zhao entrusted Charles Luk's Daoist practice with one of his advanced students (Charles further met Zhao Bichen briefly in 1936, when Master Zhao asked Charles to translate his manual into English) . This student's surname was 'Chen' (陳) and it seems that this fact was kept deliberately obscure for various reasons. Charles Luk met master Zhao at least twice in his life (in the early 1920's and again in 1936), but received continuous instruction from a student of master Zhao for some time. (Charles Luk might be being modest here, as he also stated in a letter to Richard that he met Zhao Bichen once or twice more between 1936 and 1942). (I have updated this post with new research information ACW 1.8.2016) |
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Post by Daoist on Jul 30, 2016 8:10:54 GMT 1
What happened to this project I'm interested in it?
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Aug 1, 2016 7:10:02 GMT 1
Shi Da Dao: have you come across an english translation of Zhao Bichen's other book which was translated in french? French is my first language and I will try to get a copy if an english translation is not available, deciphering Paris french is an endeavour in of itself! Even more so when it comes to esoteric material. I recently wrote this article about Zhao Bichen's other manual: CLEAR EXPLANATIONS OF HYGIENE AND PHYSIOLOGY ZHAO BICHEN’S OTHER MANUALI used a combination of French texts (which I translated into English), and Chinese source texts (also translated into English). This is an introduction to the subject, but it gives the English reader a context for this 'other' manual. |
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