Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University

Berggruen Fellow 2016-17

Society For Asian and Comparative Philosophy: President 2016-2018

Center for Studies of Gender and Ethics (Tsinghua University): Associate Director

Peking University (China): Vice Director of Daoist Studies

Dao Becomes Female: A Gendered Reality, Knowledge, and The Strategy for Living

Yinyang Narrative of Reality: Chinese Metaphysical Thinking

Zhang Shiying and Chinese Appreciation of Hegelian Philosophy

Yinyang Landscape: Fengshui Design and Shanshui Painting

Understanding of Yin Yang

Yinyang (Yin-yang)

The concept of yinyang lies at the heart of Chinese thought and culture. The relationship between these two opposing, yet mutually dependent, forces is symbolized in the familiar black and white symbol that has become an icon in popular culture across the world. The real significance of yinyang is, however, more complex and subtle. This brilliant and comprehensive analysis by one of the leading authorities in the field captures the richness and multiplicity of the meanings and applications of yinyang, including its visual presentations. Through a vast range of historical and textual sources, the book examines the scope and role of yinyang, the philosophical significance of its various layers of meanings, and its relation to numerous schools and traditions within Chinese (and Western) philosophy. By putting yinyang on a secure and clear philosophical footing, the book roots the concept in the original Chinese idiom, distancing it from Western assumptions, frameworks, and terms, yet also seeking to connect its analysis to shared cross-cultural philosophical concerns. In this way, the book illuminates not only a particular way of thinking, but also shows how yinyang thought has manifested itself concretely in a wide range of cultural practices, ranging from divination to medicine, and from the art of war to the art of sex.

Yinyang: The Way of Heaven and Earth in Chinese Thought and Culture (New Approaches to Asian History)

Internal alchemy (neidan) has been the dominant system of Daoist spiritual practice since the Song dynasty, when it was defined as the complex integration of multiple forms of Daoist self-cultivation. Its practitioners transform body energies into subtle levels of spirit and pure cosmic being, hoping to find illumination by returning to the fundamental order of the cosmos and in the process reconcile physiological training with intellectual speculation.  Bringing together the best work of leading scholars in the field, this book provides, for the first time in English, a thorough and easily accessible introduction to this important tradition. The book begins with a a general survey of the body cultivation methods that form the backbone of internal alchemy and an analysis of its understanding of the human body and the terminology it employs. Next, it presents the historical development of the tradition with its major schools and a detailed discussion of key concepts, such as mind, inner nature, and destiny. Following this, presentations focus on specific practices, such as the emergence of the spirit through the top of the head, the activation of internal visions in Thunder Ritual, the sexual comingling of energies in duo-cultivation, and the body visions and transformative techniques employed by women. The volume also contains two contributions on the contemporary application of internal alchemy in China and the West. It concludes with comparative studies on Kundalini Yoga and Hermeticism.

Internal Alchemy

Chinese Philosophy in an Era of Globalization (Suny Series in Chinese Philosophy Abd Culture) (SUNY Series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture) Paperback April 12, 2004

This rich collection of writings--many translated especially for this volume and some available in English for the first time--provides a journey through the history of Chinese culture, tracing the Chinese understanding of women as elucidated in writings spanning more than two thousand years. From the earliest oracle bone inscriptions of the Pre-Qin period through the poems and stories of the Song Dynasty, these works shed light on Chinese images of women and their roles in society in terms of such topics as human nature, cosmology, gender, and virtue.

Images of Women in Chinese Thought and Culture: Writings from the Pre-Qin Period through the Song Dynasty

Loyola Marymount University is a top-ranked national university by U.S. News and World Report, which places LMU among the top six Jesuit universities in the country and in the top six private universities in California. Founded in 1911, LMU is a Catholic, Jesuit, and Marymount university with more than 7,100 undergraduate students and more than 3,000 graduate and law students. LMU offers 56 undergraduate majors and 56 minor programs, along with 46 master’s degree programs, three doctorate programs and 12 credential/authorization programs. LMU’s intercollegiate athletics teams compete in the West Coast Conference with 14 Division I varsity sports.

LMU news and events are found at: www.lmu.edu/news.

Loyola Marymount University

Classics of Chinese Philosophy (MA Course)

Daoism and European Thought (MA Course)

Mind and Body in Daoist Philosophy

Dao and Film: Embodied Mind and Meditative Gaze

Yinyang: Theory and Practice

Ethics

Confucian Thought: Common Good and the Way of Life

Chinese Philosophy

Chinese Thought and Culture

Images of Women in Philosophy West and East

Major Thinkers: Confucians

Contemporary Moral Problems

Robin R. Wang is a professor of philosophy and chair of Asian and Asian American Studies at Loyola Marymount University. In the 2016-17 academic year, she is also a Berggruen Fellow at Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Science at Stanford University. She is the author of Yinyang: The Way of Heaven and Earth in Chinese Thought and Culture (Cambridge University Press, 2012); the editor of Chinese Philosophy in an Era of Globalization, (SUNY Press, 2004) and Images of Women in Chinese Thought and Culture: Writings from the Pre-Qin Period to the Song Dynasty (Hackett, 2003). She has taught a wide range of courses related to Chinese philosophy and culture. She has published articles in academic journals and has done some fieldwork on contemporary female Daoists in the temples around China. She has also regularly given presentations in North America, Europe, and Asia and has been a consultant for the media, law firms, museums, K-12 educators, and health care professionals. She was a credited Cultural Consultant for the movie Karate Kid, 2010.

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