Daoism Du Guangting

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In many traditions, cultures, and religions there lies a foundation of folktales and potential myths that tells the stories of how these belief systems apply to or occur in everyday life. These stories paint a picture of the religion it came from, and more importantly, can illustrate the fears and ambitions of those who follow it. Du Guangting’s book, Records of the Assembled Transcendents of the Fortified Walled City, can be used reliably in this manner to learn from. The book contains many stories that can obviously be shown to be as not factual, where people fly or become immortals and saints. For example, Bian Dongxuan is a virtuous woman who eventually transcends the world in front of a crowd, putting on an inspiring spectacle during the process. This, however, should not discourage a scholar from reading such a source. As Daoists can still benefit from such a reading, so can historians who learn to read in between the lines.While not a traditionally historically accurate book, Du Guangting’s stories can be used as a primary source that can be valuable to both historians and Daoists, as is demonstrated through the story of Bian Dongxuan. The story of Bian Dongxuan is one that highlights and exemplifies the themes of Du Guangting’s book, and can thus provide insight into reasons as to why this book was written. Bian Dongxuan was a saintly women by nature; she collected food to feed the hungry birds who could not otherwise find it in the cold winters. Already by the young age of fifteen, she had decided to enter the Dao and create balance in her body by focusing on improving her vital energy through focus and fasting. Her parents, who were against such things, sadly died. She mourned a great deal and soon joined a Daoist temple, and worked without ever really taking a rest. Towards the end she had fasted for thirty years, and whenever she had extra income it

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