Dominic Steavu

Dominic Steavu

This talk can now be viewed on our YouTube channel .

The Daoist Body

Daoism has always seen the body as the primary locus interaction with the divine and of self-cultivation. Accordingly, it has developed a rich tradition of vivid metaphors and insightful concepts for talking about the body. These have always beeb a topic of scholarly interest, but in recent years, Daoist views of the body have opened up new avenues of inquiry with respect to possible connections or transfer of ideas and practices between premodern China and India.
This talk will provide an overview of some of the prevalent ways in which Daoists speak of the body. It will devote particular attention to conceptions of the body as a dynamic and divine landscape, a generative, life-giving cosmos, and an alchemical furnace. Emblematic practices for each of these major metaphors will be discussed as well.

Dominic Steavu is Associate Professor of Chinese Religions and Chinese Buddhism at the University of California Santa Barbara. His research focuses on medieval Daoism and Buddhism, especially as regards therapeutic and/or contemplative bodily practices. He is also interested in the transcultural circulation of ideas relative to those practices and in their reception history throughout Asia and beyond.