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/lit/ - Literature

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21895253 No.21895253 [Reply] [Original]

Was John Keats a Daoist? Obviously he hadn't read the Dao De Jing, but did he grasp the nature of Daoism anyway?
>"Negative Capability," i.e. Keats's idea that artists should spontaneously follow their instincts rather than intentionally pursue truth, is perfectly in line with Daoism
>in "Ode to a Nightingale," Keats blurs the lines between himself and the object of his fascination
>the last line of that poem ("Fled is that music:—Do I wake or sleep?") is highly reminiscent of Zhuangzi wondering whether he's a man who was just dreaming he was a butterfly or a butterfly who's now dreaming he's a man
Thoughts?

>> No.21895284

>>21895253
How many words does your essay need to be? When is it due?

>> No.21895291

>>21895284
Alas here in America we don’t write essays. This is research for my final PowerPoint presentation of the quarter.

>> No.21895296

>>21895284
It's a fifty word essay due at the end of the week. I'm so screwed...

>> No.21895328

You can make anybody be anything if you reach enough. The man was not a Daoist. He was a westerner, he didn't go to a temple, he didn't follow a daoshi, he didn't practice neigong, he didn't eat a Daoist diet. Daoism is more than just a Chinese philosophy.

>> No.21895561

>>21895253
Yes
>>21895328
Midwit. “From the beginning the Dao is not lost, but reappears under multiple names.”

t. Daoist

>> No.21895567

>>21895561
Sorry, the quote is “reappears through multiple origins” not names.

>> No.21895615

>>21895328
Also, by your definition of daoist none of the original daoist authors weren’t daoist either.

>> No.21895638

>>21895615
> none of the original daoist authors

Nah

https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neiye

>> No.21895718

>>21895561
"The Dao" and "Daoism/Daoists" are two different things. One can appreciate the Dao without identifying as a "Daoist" because Daoism is largely an ethnoreligion in Asia. If you're a Daoist I assume you are a chink or SEA otherwise pls stop

>> No.21895732

>>21895638
ddj is older and later daoism changed drastically from all the qi focus

>> No.21895739
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21895739

>>21895718
Everyone is a daoist, some will just refuse to admit it

>> No.21895760

>>21895739
Sure but have fun getting laughed out of the room if you call yourself a Daoist around the average Chinaman, they'll just assume you're a weird cheeaboo. Daoism is largely an expression of Chinese culture, again often considered an ethnoreligion, with a billion different sects and specific practices that go beyond just "the Dao is... le good!", so calling yourself a Daoist without being a chink who goes to temples is like calling yourself a Republican because you think Abe Lincoln was cool. Daoism is a living practice with rituals and requirements and its own culture(s). The Dao may be universal but the religion of Daoism is less so. Do not repeat Alan Watts's hubris.

>> No.21895772
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21895772

>>21895253
What you are missing and also confusing is the common root shared by both Romanticism and Daoism: Alchemy. Western and eastern alchemy differ; and some ideas can come from related strands (Gnosticism for Romanticism; Shamanism for Daoism) so really it's not that easy to set such lines.

Also, >>21895328 is true

>> No.21895774

>>21895732
Actually I retract my statement - Qi practices are probably older and Daoism may have evolved out of local shamanic tradition and was always integrated with local religion but it definitely is something distinct. Only a couple of the chapters of DDJ deal with meditation and barely anything about it in Liezi and Zhuangzi.

>> No.21895863
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21895863

>> No.21896173

>>21895760
You’re a fool. Just because one does not practice Chinese religion does not mean one cannot understand the principals of Daoist philosophy and apply it to one’s life. The same is true of Western religions—one can understand the philosophical essence of Christianity without actually attending church services or saying prayers.

>> No.21896301

>>21896173
I wouldn't go around calling myself a Christian if I only christcucked myself outside of the church. Anyway the west did the so-called Dao better anyway see >>21895863