Taoism

Taoism and Ecology

June 5-8, 1998

 

  • Opening Sessions
  • Beginning Orientations
  • Taoism and Ecological Concerns in Historical Context, I
  • Roundtable Discussion on Taoism and Ecology
  • Taoism and Ecological Concerns in Historical Context, II
  • Taoism and Ecological Concerns in Cultural Context
  • Plenary Session: A Taoist and Confucian Dialogue about Ecology
  • Concluding Speculations

 

Opening Sessions

Welcome and Opening Remarks:

Lawrence Sullivan, Director, CSWR

Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, Bucknell University, Conference Series Coordinators

Norman Girardot, Lehigh University and Livia Kohn, Boston University, co-conveners for the Taoism Conference

 

Keynote address:

Kristofer Schipper, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Sorbonne, and University of Leiden - Taoist Ecology: The Inner Transformation. A Study of the Precepts of the Early Taoist Ecclesia

 

Beginning Orientations: Questions and Answers

Chair - Norman Girardot

Jordan Paper, York University - “Taoism” and “Deep Ecology:” Fantasy and Potentiality

Respondent - Julian Pas, University of Saskatchewan

Michael LaFargue, University of Massachusetts, Boston - “Nature” As Part of the Human-Cultural World in Taoist Thought

David Hall, University of Texas, El Paso - From Reference to Deference: Taoism and the Natural World - Read by: Roger Ames, University of Hawaii, Manoa

Respondent - Russell Goodman, University of New Mexico

 

Taoism and Ecological Concerns in Historical Context, I

Chair - Livia Kohn

Russell Kirkland, University of Georgia - “Life,” “Nature,” and “Responsible (Non-)Action:” Perspectives from the Neiye, Zhuangzi, and Taode Jing

Respondent - Lisa Raphals, Bard College

Liu Xiaogan, National University of Singapore - Non-action (Wuwei) and the Environment Today: Conceptual and Applied Study of Laozi's Philosophy

Respondent - James Miller, Boston University

Robert F. Campany, Indiana University - Ingesting the Marvelous: The Taoist's Relationship to Nature According to Ge Hong, 283-343 C.E.

Respondent - Edward Davis, University of Hawaii, Manoa

 

Roundtable Discussion on Taoism and Ecology by Taoist Practitioners

Moderator- Livia Kohn, Boston University

Participants:

Charles Belyea, Orthodox Taoism in America

Vincent Chu, Gin Soon T'ai Chi Club

Weidong Lu, New England School of Acupuncture

Rene Navarro, International Healing Tao Center

Dan Seitz, New England School of Acupuncture

Linda Varone, Dragon and Phoenix Feng Shui

 

Taoism and Ecological Concerns in Historical Context, II

Chair - Norman Girardot, Lehigh University

Lai Chi-tim, Chinese University of Hong Kong - A Study of the Concept of Zhong-he, Central Harmony in the Taiping Jing: Human Responsibility for the Maladies of Nature

Respondent - Richard Wang, University of Chicago

Toshiaki Yamada, Toyo University, Tokyo - Pantheism and the Respect for Natural Beauty in Taoism

Respondent - Franciscus Verellen, Ecole Francaise d'Extreme-Orient, Paris

Thomas Hahn, University of Heidelberg - Wild Thoughts: On Taoist Notions of Wilderness

Respondent - Terry Kleeman, College of William and Mary

 

Taoism and Ecological Concerns in Cultural Context

Chair - Livia Kohn, Boston University

Jeffrey Meyer, University of North Carolina, Charlotte - Taoist Chinese Gardens as Ecological Texts

Respondent - Robert Weller, Boston University

Chu Ron Guey, Academia Sinica, Taipei - Chinese Geomancy in Environmental Perspective

Respondent - Peter Nickerson, Duke University

E. N. Anderson, University of California, Riverside - Flowering Apricot: Environmental Practice, Folk Religion, and Taoism

Respondent - John Patterson, Massey University, New Zealand

 

Plenary Session: A Taoist and Confucian Dialogue about Ecology

Moderator - Mary Evelyn Tucker, Bucknell University

Kristofer Schipper, University of Leiden, in conversation with Tu Weiming, Harvard University

 

Concluding Speculations

Chair - Norman Girardot, Lehigh University

Anne Birdwhistell, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey - The Ecology Question in Taoism: Can Ancient Texts Speak to Contemporary Issues?

Respondent - Michael Puett, Harvard University

Roger Ames, University of Hawaii, Manoa - The Local and Focal in Realizing a Taoist World

Respondent - Paul Kjellberg, Whittier College

Jonathan Herman, Georgia State University - Taoist Environmentalism in the West: Ursula Le Guin's Transmission of Taoism

Respondents - J. P. Seaton, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and Ursula Le Guin, Portland, Oregon