Customer Reviews

Taoist Master Chuang

5 star:		(21)
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I have an MA in Taoism, and I'm considering going after my PhD. I've spent lots and lots of time reading through dusty books on Taoism, and I can assure everyone that I think this is one of the best. In an area where translations of the Tao Te Ching abound, this is one of the few works that provides real detail regarding Taoist practice. Instead of philosophy and spiritual fluff, this book really relates what it is like to be a Taoist in the world of dust. Only after reading and re-reading this wonderful book could I really begin to see how Master Chuang captures the heart of Taoism in concrete actions, and how he does this on behalf of his community. Everyone interested in Taoism should read this book!

I can certainly appreciate the excitement that a lot of readers have expressed about this book--I felt the same way when I read it years ago (the book was first published in 1978 as *The Teachings of Taoist Master Chuang*). But I was schocked to see that the book has been reprinted, because, to put it mildly, it was not very favorable received in academic circles. Now, for many readers, this won't mean a thing, and may in fact be a mark in the book's favor. That's cool. But if you are interested in the history of Daoism, or in good ethnography, then you may want to read an old (and infamous) review article on this book, published in 1980. It's called "History, Anthropology, and Chinese Religion." [Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 40, No. 1. (Jun., 1980), pp. 201-248.] This is an *extremely* harsh review of the book, and in many ways a petty one. But it makes many damning points. For example that Saso gets his history very wrong. But perhaps more importantly, he does some strange things for an ethnographer, like introducing material from the published Daoist canon for Master Chuang to comment on--material that Chuang had never seen. This calls into question just what kind of Daoism Saso is learning, in the book. But, it's an exciting book, it gives some views of Daoism that are valuable, etc. Just FYI, caveat emptor, etc.

Can I just get in line behind everyone else here? This is a unqiely excellent book. I highly recommend it. There are soooo many books about Daoism, except that almost none have any real relevance to Daoism whatsoever. Here we have a scholar who seems to have a deep understanding of Taoist practice. But this is a book about his training at the hands of a true Daoist Master, so I guess that's to be expected. Nonetheless, this is a real, authentic, detailed view of Taoist practice. Not highflying philosophy or navel-gazing, but real descriptions of real practices. Some of the activities described in this excellent book are astoundingly complex. It's as if someone realized the concept of yin-yang, and kept developing it without cessation for a long, long time. Eventually, detailed practices regarding ritual, spirits, magic, personal transmutation and more arose. This is basically the history of Taoism itself, as reflected in the knowledge of one intensely experienced Master, as told by his spiritual disciple. My only complaint with this book? I wish it were twice as long.

OK, I was looking for some books on Taoism, and I found "Taoist Master Chuang." I read the other reviews, and decided that I had to read this book for myself. Without doubt I'm glad I did. Master Chuang describes Taoist history in a way that is so much more thorough and succint than in any other book I've read. Now we know how Taoists themselves view Taoist history! And the second half of the book, which deals with Taoist practices like mantra, hand gestures called mudra, magical spells to control spirits, etc., is without peer. This is no theorectical discussion, this is a detailed description of actual practice. It's about time someone wrote this book, and I applaud Michael Saso for doing so.

This is simply a tremendous book that everyone who is interested in Taoism should read. Saso, who is not only a Professor of Taoist but is also a legitimate Taoist Priest, describes his training in full detail. He gives real descriptions of rituals, incantations, spirit-controlling spells, etc. Plus you get to know Taoist history as Saso's own master knew it. This sort of information just isn't available anywhere else. If you already have a grounding in basic Taoism and want to know more about higher-level activities, this is one of the only references you'll find.

TAOIST MASTER CHUANG (c. 2000) by Michael R. Saso, is a book of Taoist religious ritual and liturgy to control and exorcise evil spirits as practiced by the grade four Cheng-i Meng-wei sect (One Auspicious Alliance) priest, Master Chuang. The author, Professor Michael R. Saso, acted as a "participant/observer" on Taiwan as he recorded the style of magic from the Ch'ing-wei sect (The Heavenly Pilot, a Tantric Taoist order from the Tang Dynasty), from manuals originally in the collection of Wu Ching-ch'un, and as interpreted and practiced by Master Chuang.

The book TAOIST MASTER CHUANG contained the interesting 4th century Mao shan sect (Highest Purity Order of the Yellow Court Canon) rituals of the Tao of the Left black magic (Chapt. 4) and the Orthodox rituals of the Tao of the Right 'Thunder Magic' (Chapt. 5); and instructions of the use of the 'Lu' which is a register of spirit names. The Heterodox Tao of the Left black magic emphasized rituals to summon the six evil chia spirits; while the Orthodox Tao of the Right used 'Thunder Magic' to deflect those spirits. And the ritual of the 'chiao', bringing the priest into direct contact with the Tao itself, was explained to be dependent upon fasting, and a diet of simple foods, whole grains, and vegetables to alter the body's internal alchemy to become receptive to the required ritual. Also included were the drawn Talismans, finger-formed Mudras, and the chanted Mantras of all Ch'ing-wei sect rituals.

The book TAOIST MASTER CHUANG revealed that esteem and validity amongst Taiwanese Taoist priests seemed to rely on the possession of antique manuals, and that priests were constantly stealing each others books to gain knowledge of the name and descriptions of different spirits and the talismic charms and mantric incantations to control them; plus how to learn to perform various funeral and birth rituals. It appeared that being a Taoist priest in Taiwan was no different than any other vocation and individuals fell on Taoism as a means of making a living.

The subject of the book, Master Chuang Teng-yun (Chuang who ascends the Clouds) despite his alcoholism and bad temper, was a first rate expert on Meng-wei orthodox Taoism and a conscientious adherent to all the proper liturgy and rites of Ch'ing-wei Thunder Magic. Master Chuang was also one of the few advanced ordained Taoist priests on Taiwan who knew how to perform the rituals properly. Such as the dance of the Ho-T'U at the end of the Chiao festival which would bring the priest in direct contact with the Tao itself! Or the proper interpretation of the eight trigrams of King Wen; the Lo-shu (the octagon design you see on placemats at Chinese restaraunts).

Regardless of any scholastic short-comings, the book TAOIST MASTER CHUANG is an important work for the lay student of escoteric religious Taoism, contained a great depth of information which will require several readings, and should be read in conjunction with 'SEVEN TAOIST MASTERS: A Folk Novel of China'(c.1990) by Eva Wong

I had almost given up hope. I've seen enough translations of the Tao Te Ching to last a lifetime. I'm not interested in learning how to apply Taoist philosophy to my career. What I want is to learn more about actual Taoism, about how Taoists practice and live. Just when I was about to give up any hope of ever finding the information I wanted, along comes Taoist Master Chuang. It's an excellent book, clearly written and filled with detailed practical examples of Taoist practices, ritual, worship, and magic. I especially enjoyed the author's vivid depictions of a slew of modern Taoists. Some of the images conformed to my preconceptions, and some did not. But all were fascinating. I also think the "history of Taoism" section is fabulous. This seems to be an insider's view, something that we don't normally see in typical academic works. All in all, this was a great surprise and a great book.

I wanted to learn taoist sorcery for long time, but there i could not find any book on the subject at all untill this book came along. this book is the real thing, it teach you in detail of true taoist ritual, spells, mantra, deity summon, etc..
this book is the only one of it kind in the U.S, that truely explain and teach you to do taoist sorcery stuff.

Most of the stuff in this book need lots of time and effort on your part to master. Some ritual and summon are long and complex, but if you really interst in learning and casting spells and summon deitys this book is a must have.

Taoist Master Chuang is one of the absolute most important books for anyone's Taoist library. In my opinion, everyone should have (in no particular order) Robinet's "Taoism: Growth of a Religion", Mair's translations of Zhaungzi and Laozi, the Yi Jing of one's choice, and Saso's "Gold Pavilion Classic" and "Taoist Master Chuang". Taoist Master Chuang is simply that good. Saso delivers information that was absolutely unavailable to the Western reader prior to Taoist Master Chuang. My only concern is that no one should attempt to utilize the spells, incantations, and rituals in Saso's book unless one is trained to do so.

Daoism attracts two kinds of people - some want to read the Tao Te Ching and some want to learn more about Taoism. If you're the second kind, like I am, then you HAVE to get this book. This could be the single best Daoism book in English. It really tells us how to do things, and how Daoist Masters really do things? Plus the history of Daoism is awesome. I can't say enough about this book. Maximum stars.