Dear J Thank you for your email. I wonder what the Yijing says about our interaction? This would be a good experience in aligning the text with material conditions - a process mediated by our own 'intentions'. Of course, material conditions and intentions continuously change - but the Yijng text remains constant. The efficacy of translation merely allows us to peer into the historicity of the text - to a lesser or greater accuracy. Indeed. 'words' are the business we are engaged in - and a question lingers as to whether it matters how these words are generated and received. An open-ended enquiry might allow for possibilities of 'being' that are firmly closed-off by precise answers. This is 'why' the individual lines of the Yijing 'move' and 'transform'. All Best Wishes Adrian
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Dear T We possess a very rare book of Wong Tai Sin Predictions - in the original Chinese language and English translation - part of a limited edition published in 1984 in Hong Kong! The Wong Tai Sin Temple (Sik Sik Yuen in the local Cantonese dialect) apparently first produced a little-known English translation of the Predictions during 1981 - and then this 1986 edition was sponsored by a local Board of Hospitals (there was no NHS in Hong Kong). The small Admission Fee to the Temple funded the Hospitals - and it is the Management of these Hospitals which financed the publishing. We attach a reading for you - together with the Introduction and Foreword, etc, to this book. Wong Tai Sin Temple - Online (English) 'Sik Sik Yuen' (嗇色園) is the Cantonese pronunciation of 'Se Se Yuan' - with the first two ideogram being different in structure and meaning - but sounding (and looking) similar' to Western ears and eyes: a) 嗇 (Se) = Careful Accumulation (Through Labour) b) 色 (Se) = Healthy Complexion c) 園 (Yuan) = Temple (Where Medical Healing Takes Place) It seems that '嗇色' (Se Se - Sik Sik) are read together to suggest a 'healthy self-cultivation' - a process which involves meditation, self-discipline and ritualistic behaviour - as well as others (such as Doctors and Nurses) helping when such help is needed. With regards 'Wong Tai Sin' (黃大仙) - some of the suggested 'English' translations are out of date: 1) 黃 (Wong) = Surname (Literally 'Yellow' Like the Colour of the Earth in Central China - Written 'Huang') 2) 大 (Tai) = Grand 3) 仙 (Sin) = Immortal The Commentary above (listed in the book under discussion) suggests that '大仙' (Tai Sin - Tai Xian) should be translated as 'Almighty God' - and I think we can see the missionaries at work! Of course, this is a Daoist expression with no Judeo-Christian connotation whatsoever - meaning 'Grand Immortal' - or someone who has spent many years practicing Daoist self-cultivation and who has made a tremendous breakthrough regarding the acquisition of robust health and a long life! I include a photograph of our family shrine here in (London) in the UK - which has just been cleaned! Thanks Adrian
A number of my academic colleagues in Mainland China have discussed with me the necessity for the formation of a ‘new’ type of Daoism. The point of this is to move away from the pointless ‘dead-ends’ of superstitious teachings and empower Daoist practitioners with the most effective and efficient medicalised training programmes available. Without a shadow of a doubt, this redesigning will have to accommodate the rigours of modern medical science just as it should retain the elements of traditional Chinese thinking that was premised upon logic, practice, results and replication of those results. Indeed, there is much existing within Daoist (and TCM) methodology that is both ancient in construction and highly effective in practice! Of course, something of a ground-breaking foundation already exists within the teachings of the Qianfeng School of Beijing where its founder – Zhao Bichen (1860-1942) - was able to integrate Western medical science with tradition Daoist and TCM concepts. This modified the Quanzhen, Longmen and Wu Liu Daoist lineages and created a Daoist methodology that educated Chinese people about Western thinking – and Westerners about Chinese thinkers! What many Westerners do not know is that Zhao Bichen often replaced or enhanced a traditional Chinese Daoist term with its exact Western (biological) designate – for instance, for the ‘Ancestral Cavity’ (祖窍 - Zu Qiao) - Zhao Bichen would add the Chinese translation of the Western anatomical term ‘centre of the forehead’. Within his Daoist manuals (see: ‘Taoist Yoga’ translated by Charles Luk as an example), the Western concepts of the ‘centre of the brain’ is used to correspond to the ‘mud pill’ (泥丸 - Ni Wan) and the ‘solar plexus’ is used to describe the ‘middle dan tian’ ((中丹田 - Zhong Nei Dan), etc. All these terms are in Chinese translation and are presented alongside their traditional Chinese equivalent. When Zhao Bichen set about compiling an integrated glossary of Daoist and Western anatomical terms in the early 20th century, such phrases as ‘centre of the forehead’ was completely alien for all but the most well-travelled and well educated of Chinese people of the time. A point that has to be understood is that most traditional Daoist terms were considered ‘obscure’ even for native Chinese-speakers – as the techniques and methods were closely guarded through the descriptive use of metaphor and allegory. Zhao Bichen sought to ‘align’ formerly complicated Daoist terms with regular (modern) terms so that an understanding between the two cultures could be built, and misunderstanding ‘educated out’ of the process of communication. Zhao Bichen was also following the instructions of his two traditional Daoist Teachers who advised him to abandon the exclusivity usually associated with Daoist instruction, and teach any who asked. To modernise and strengthen China, Zhao Bichen decided to align the wisdom of ancient China with the highly effective thinking that formed the foundation of Western medical understanding. Since 1949, the literacy rates in China have sky-rocketed and many modern Chinese readers are now able to fully understand the Western medical terms employed by Zhao Bichen. This allows the average person in China to work backwards into the traditional Daoist codes and decipher the hidden meaning contained inside! The fruits of this labour are experienced by myself when I translate the Chinese-language blog posts of Master Zhao Ming Wang into English. Not only is my task made easier by the integration of Eastern and Western thinking, but this also gives me a firm theoretical understanding when purely ancient Chinese terms are introduced!
I remember translating a highly technical and tricky blog entry written by Master Zhao Ming Wang of Beijing. I enjoy these challenges which the boundaries of my knowledge and understanding of a) traditional Chinese Daoist culture, and b) how this is interpreted, understood and applied to contemporary Chinese culture. This translation was shared by a reader online and was described as ‘mystical nonsense’ by someone who happened to come across it. Of course, this individual took it for granted that the original Chinese language text had been read, understood, translated, re-arranged and logically presented into (British) English! He could not comprehend how Master Zhao Ming Wang had employed a traditional Daoist sub-text in his explanation of a particular aspect of health and longevity practices, and yet articulated this understanding through a distinctly ‘modern’ interpretation of how the mind and body functions. Admittedly, this is a very subtle nuance that exists within the Qianfeng School which ‘blends’ traditional Chinese Daoist understanding with the ‘modern’ science familiar in the Western world. As it is my job to translate Master Zhao Ming Wang’s blog into English, it is my responsibility to convey this reality, even though it is very much an acquired taste! Master Zhao Bichen (1860-1942) was a very intelligent man. Not only did he seek-out and train with over thirty-six different (traditional) Daoist Masters, but he also encountered scientific literature imported from the West – which interested him tremendously. Primarily, this was data relating to medicine, anatomy and physiology – and it is this body of knowledge that he ‘integrated’ with the philosophy of traditional Daoist methodology. For ethnic Chinese readers who are familiar with the usual Daoist literature – the texts of the Qianfeng School are unusual in that they introduce to the Chinese reader common attributes contained within the Western interpretation of modern biology! The only obvious difference is that all this data is presented in Chinese translation. This blending of the ultra-orthodox Daoist ideology of the Qianfeng School with key attributes of ‘modern’ (Western) biological science – makes the Qianfeng School ‘unique’ in both China and the West! This is why the Chinese government considers the Qianfeng School to be an ideal conveyer of Daoism within a ‘modern’ Chinese context that plays-down superstition and literal beliefs in spirits and gods, etc, and encourages a more thorough and proactive ‘care’ for the well-being and health of the psychological and physical aspects of each practitioner. A lot of specialised work is carried-out in China (and in the UK) for teachings of the Qianfeng School to be properly presented for each reader to (freely) absorb, be inspired by and benefit from!
Dear Gillian I have been dedicating a lot of time to our family Daoist Lineage (in fact, we have two - the other being 'Wong Tai Sin' - the Immortal Doctor who very common in the Hong Kong area, and linked to our gongfu style). This is because Master Zhao Ming Wang is a very kind and caring person who although very strict - has graciously recognised the lineage of his Zhao Family Daoism which I inherited through Charles Luk (1898-1978) who personally trained with his Great Grandfather Zhao Bichen (1860-1942), passed to me by Richard Hunn (1949-2006). There is a school of Daoism which claims it is from Russia - but which writes its website in US English. It uses a fake web address in Russia - but those who make contact tell me the admins are (White) American. They claim to be the sole inheritors of the Wu Liu School of Daoism - and that Master Zhao Ming Wang's Qianfeng School is 'fake'. They even penned the US (English) Wikipedia page which voices this lie - and yet the Russian language Wikipedia page (supposedly the page of their home country) does not express this lie at all and is very respectful to Master Zhao Ming Wang. Indeed, the Russians I meet all the time simply do not behave in this ignorant manner. Furthermore, it is 'law' within modern China that ALL religious groups and teachers MUST register their real names and addresses on social media and in the public domain. This is so they can perform their spiritual function of helping anybody who requires assistance and asks for it. This supposedly 'Russian School' states that its Chinese teachers do not give out their names! When I checked these claims, I was told by the Religious Support, Protection and Investigation Department (Beijing) that this school is a Western fabrication charging large sums of money for the second-hand teachings lifted out of books published in the West! Finally, the Daoist Association of China granted me the honourable task of translating a number of 'key' documents from the Chinese-language into (British) English so that the genuine knowledge is available for Western people interested in the authentic Daoist lineages of China. In the West, people can do what they want - even invent Daoist schools - but they shouldn't make claims that such entities are a) linked to China, or b) represent China. Such stupidity can get people into all kinds of trouble!
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AuthorAdrian Chan-Wyles (內丹 - Shi Da Dao) - Qianfeng Lineage: Zhao Bichen (1860-1942), Charles Luk (1898-1978) and Richard Hunn (1949-2006). Acknowledges Master Zhao Ming Wang (赵明旺) of Beijing as the ONLY Lineage Head of the Zhao Family Lineage of Qianfeng Daoism in China and the world. Archives
February 2024
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