Laughing at the Dao: Debates among Buddhists and Daoists in Medieval China

Laughing at the Dao: Debates among Buddhists and Daoists in Medieval ChinaThe Xiaodao lun (Laughing at the Dao) is an important document of the debates among Buddhists and Daoists in sixth century China. Written by the Daoist renegade Zhen Luan in the year 570, the text aims to expose inconsistencies in Daoist doctrine, cosmology, ritual, and religious practice. In a complete and fully annotated translation, Livia Kohn places the work within the context of the debates and exposes the political schemes behind the apparently

The Xiaodao lun (Laughing at the Dao) is an important document of the debates among Buddhists and Daoists in sixth-century China. Written by the Daoist renegade Zhen Luan in the year 570, the text aims to expose inconsistencies in Daoist doctrine, cosmology, ritual, and religious practice. In a complete and fully annotated translation, Livia Kohn places the work within the context of the debates and exposes the political schemes behind the apparently religious disputes. The translation is framed by an introduction on the history of the debates as well as by two appendixes, on materials of earlier and later debates and on the Daoist sources cited in the Xiaodao lun. Richly informed and highly relevant to an understanding of medieval China, KohnÕs work enhances the study of medieval Buddhist and Daoist myth, rhetoric, and ideology.