Chinese people, like those of many other cultures, understand themselves as belonging to a specific gender, one with social rules and positions that can be difficult to stray from. Such gender norms have existed in China for millennia. There are a number of ways to examine what these gender norms are (or have been), and a number of ways in which one can understand how they dictated the lives of the Chinese people they defined. The present thesis is a translation and study of two Chinese hagiographical collections from the late Song or early Yuan Dynasty. These collections detail the exploits of Daoist transcendents. The first collection translated is concerned with male transcendents, the second with female transcendents. In translating these texts, I seek to understand how gender is portrayed in the lives of exceptional religious figures. As an examination of gender within a patriarchal—or at least male-dominant—society, I expected the female transcendents to be relegated, somehow, to a lesser station. Through my translations I argue that, though they could not wholly extricate themselves from gender norms, religious Daoism, as portrayed in the hagiographies, offered both men and women from certain social obligations. These social obligations include such institutions as marriage and reproduction (for both men and women). The hagiographies also depict a greater sense of equality for Daoist women than they might have found otherwise. At its most ambitious, Narrating Transcendents serves to demonstrate the multivalent function of hagiographies as tools religious communities used to define and guide themselves. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

This paper does not purport to be an examination of Zen or Taoism, but rather a view of certain aspects of Zen and Taoism, but rather a view of certain aspects of Zen and Taoism from the vantage point of contemporary psychology, to see if a metaphysic, a philosophical resting-place, might not be found for the admittedly pragmatic science of clinical psychology. The questions the paper asks, then, and attempts to answer, are (1) can such a formulation be made, and (2) does psychotherapy conducted from this point of view move satisfactorily.

In over three decades since their 1993 debut, the hip-hop artists known as RZA and Wu-Tang Clan created a world whose significance (for them) transcends the local contingencies of time, place, race, and religion. Whether it is by their creating a world based on filmic myths, by their conquering the world via hip-hop and finding their destiny in a Chinese sacred landscape, by their making themselves symbolic of a perennial worldview, or by their reimagining of their possibilities against the historical terrors of racism, in each case we find an ongoing quest for transcendence that at least for their leader, RZA, demonstrates the meaning of the Wu-Tang Clan. This study sets out to demonstrate this latter point. Framing its discussion in terms of world and worldmaking, I argue that the fundamental thread of significance that ties together the mythical world of the Wu, especially from the perspective of RZA, is a quest for transcendence, a project that is replete with stylistic, spiritual, existential, cross-cultural, and racial implications. While this is no biography of the Wu-Tang Clan, each chapter, starting with Chapter 2, asks how and why this quest takes shape in a sequentially ordered discussion of Wu’s worldmaking career. In arguing my point, I mainly take a phenomenological approach to RZA and the Wu-Tang Clan’s cultural productions, describing and interpreting various forms of Wu-associated media (songs, compact discs, album concepts and graphic designs, films, books, and more) from 1993 to the early 2020s. Between the practices of cultural criticism and interpretation, the study also draws from and contributes to Afro-Asian studies and Religious Studies. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This is a study of the Wu-Tang Clan, a hip-hop group from Staten Island, New York. It argues that for over two decades since their 1993 debut, the Wu-Tang Clan has come to produce not only a long resume of music and other media but a mythic world. Furthermore, for the purpose of maintaining this world across time, Wu’s leader, RZA (pronounced “Rizah’), has aimed to make the Wu-Tang Clan symbolic of a universal worldview that transcends their local culture, history, place of origin, religion, and race.

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Chinese

本文的主旨在於探討儀式傳統向戲劇轉化的問題。本文以岑溪市南渡鎮地方儀式傳統為基礎，從社會綜合市鎮格局形成、儀式傳統中的基本儀式形態、作為戲劇化載體的儀式劇形態，以及儀式劇在整個儀式傳統中的定位與脈絡等方面，對「儀」與「戲」在特定社會轉變背景下的關係作出深入的探究。 / 本文分七章就上述論題展開論述。第一章為緒論部分，主要涉及研究緣起、地方儀式傳統與儀式劇研究回顧、問題意識形成以及研究資料方法等內容。 / 第二章集中論述自清乾隆年間起，南渡鎮因鹽課政策的改變逐漸形成了綜合性市鎮，為南渡儀式傳統的形成打下了物質基礎。 / 第三章主要論述南渡儀式傳統的基本形態，包括相關家族移民史、道法源及當地紅事、白事、神事的表演形態。南渡道館存有兩部主要儀式劇：《枉府西遊》與《八仙下凡》，均形成於清中晚期，且衍生於當地道館中的民間佛教信仰。 / 第四章論及南渡道館中的「喃嘸」傳統。南渡「喃嘸」傳統具有廣府與客家融合，茅山、玄科、儀式佛教合而為一的地方「喃嘸」特色。 / 第五章探究南渡「喃嘸」傳統的戲劇化現象。 / 第六章探討南渡「喃嘸」傳統中「儀」與「戲」的互動。 / 第七章為本文結論。 / This dissertation focuses on the question of the theatricalization of local ritual tradition. Our study concentrates on the local ritual tradition in a community town of Nandu, Cenxi. We study the process of theatricalization of local ritual tradition and the relationship between "ritual" and "drama". / This dissertation consists of seven chapters. Chapter one is an introduction which defines the research question and methodology. It also includes a literature review on local ritual tradition and ritual drama. / Chapter two discusses the historical process of urbanization of Nandu Town since Qianlong in relation to the change of tax policy on salt and the emerging need for entertainment of the newly formed town. / Chapter three investigates the forms of ritual in Nadu. There are two main ritual dramas: the Western Travel drama (枉府西遊) and the Eight-Immortals (八仙下凡), both of which formed in late Qing and developed from ritual Buddhism. / Chapter four studies the ritual tradition of Nandu. The ritual is fundmentally made up of three religious sects: Maoshan teachingm , Xuan teaching, as well as ritual Buddhism . / Chapter five focuses on the dramatization of the ritual tradition of Nandu. / Chapter six disscuses the interaction between ritual and drama in Nandu tradition. / Chapter seven is the conclusion of this dissertation. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 謝健. / Parallel title from added title page. / Thesis (Ph.D.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2015. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 180-197). / Abstracts also in English. / Xie Jian.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T19:20:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Orley Dulcetti Junior.pdf: 3156727 bytes, checksum: a3bf2f75da96836f997a356945e736f7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-10-23 / The present scientific work investigates the composed object from the original Taoist Ancient Medicine text in archaic Chinese, The Yellow Emperor s Inner Classic , and the European translations into English, Portuguese, by Veith, and into French, by Ung and Chamfrault. There has been an attempt to keep the legitimacy of the source of the text in the translations into the Portuguese language, made by the author of the thesis. Thematic excerpts of dào, yīnyángqì, wǔxíng of the The Yellow Emperor s Inner Classic have been taken and contrasted to the European versions by means of comparisons that have been given systematized commentaries. Because both textualities are products of the fecundity and intelligibility of two distinct cultures, ancient Chinese and current European cultures, there is reference to the study of the problems of the cultural differences with the dimensions that have implications in the Philosophical, Linguistic and aesthetics scopes. A conceptual elaboration has been performed in order to explain the cultural phenomena involved in the transformation and in the translocation of the hypotext into the hypertext. The cultural differences have been made concrete based on Montgomery s cultural diffusion theories, Bastide s acculturation, globalization, Holton s hybridization, Lackner s hybridization and neo-figurism, Julien s cultural fecundity, Genette and Kristeva s intertextuality. The result of the research has led to the conclusion that the translation into Portuguese sought to preserve the authenticity of the original book s cultural and textual fecundity. The translocation of the original text from ancient China to current Europe has received modifications in cultural, philosophical, semantic-linguistic and aesthetic dimensions that took place in the translations of the ancient polysemic sinograms of taoism. These were decontextualized in the entrance of the received texts in another culture, the European culture, which is distinct from the former. It conduces to phrasing and recurrent significations, which are familiar in the receiving Western culture that overpowers the ancient Chinese, belonging to the ancestry of the Yellow Emperor / O presente trabalho científico investiga objeto composto do texto original de medicina chinesa antiga do taoismo, em chinês arcaico, o Clássico Interno do Imperador Amarelo e as traduções europeias em inglês, português, de Veith; em francês de Ung e Chamfrault. Procurou-se manter a legitimidade do texto de origem na tradução para o idioma português feito pelo autor da tese. Foram extraídos excertos temáticos do dào, yīnyángqì, wǔxíng do Clássico Interno comparado às versões europeias por recursos de cotejos que receberam comentários sistematizados. Sendo que, ambas as textualidades são produtos da fecundidade da inteligibilidade de duas culturas distintas, a da chinesa antiga e a europeia atual. Por essa razão remeteu-se ao estudo dos problemas das diferenças culturais com as dimensões que implicam no âmbito filosófico, linguístico e estético. Realizou-se a elaboração conceitual para se explicitar os fenômenos culturais envolvidos na transformação na transladação do hipertexto ao hipotexto. Foram feitas concretização das diferenças culturais fundamentando-se nas teorias da difusão cultural de Montgomery, aculturação de Bastide, globalização, polarização, hibridação de Holton, hibridação e neo-figurismo de Lacnker, fecundidade cultural de Jullien, intertextualidade de Genette e Kristeva. O resultado da pesquisa permitiu concluir que a tradução ao português procurou preservar a autenticidade da fecundidade cultural e textual do livro de origem. A translocação da obra de origem, da China Antiga para a Europa atual recebeu modificações em dimensões culturais, filosóficas semântico-linguísticas, estéticas ocorridas nas traduções dos sinogramas antigos polissêmicos do taoismo descontextualizados na recepção dos textos de acolhida por outra cultura distinta da anterior, a europeia que conduz a fraseados, significações recorrentes, familiares na cultura dominante ocidental de chegada sobre a chinesa antiga, da ancestralidade do Imperador Amarelo

From the establishment of the Ming to the fall of the Qing (1368--1911), the social and cultural scene of the Chinese countryside was greatly transformed. Lineages became the dominant social organization in many areas. Local temples became a familiar part of the rural landscape. Local culture was increasingly exposed to the influence of regional culture and gentry culture with the proliferation of market towns, the development of the printing industry and the rise of literacy. By investigating the history of ritual specialists and their rituals in a sub-county area in southeast China, this thesis shows how these social and cultural transformations took place and how the local population experienced them. Lisheng or masters of ceremonies, the focus of this thesis, played and still play an important role in the local social and symbolic life. Either along with or in the absence of other ritual specialists, they guided the laity through ritual procedures to communicate with ancestors, gods, and the dead. These rituals, and also the related liturgical texts, were the outcome of social and cultural transformations in the late imperial period. Through a detailed discussion of the history of the three important local institutions that were closely related to lisheng and their rituals, namely, lineages, community compacts, and temple networks, the thesis shows the limitations of the elitist interpretation of late imperial cultural transformations. Cultural integration and gentrification were without doubt important aspects of these processes. However, both may have oversimplified the complexity of the processes and exaggerate the influence of high culture. Cultural hybridization, the process in which elements from different cultural traditions were synthesized into a new, constantly changing cultural mosaic, provides a multipolar, interactional, and thus more complex approach to our understanding of cultural processes in late imperial China.

本文乃是以「身心之學」貫串全文，以「隱喻」凸顯孟子、莊子各自的工夫論特色，而「孟莊之同」（儒道之同）則可謂本文最重要的結論。 首先，由於工夫修養與主體的轉化和提昇密切相關，而現實生命又是以「心—身」共構體存在於世，故工夫修養亦得落實於「心—身」共構體，此即為「身心之學」的內涵之一，也是筆者著意於「身心之學」的原因之一。孟子和莊子的思想皆包含內聖與外王二面，據本文的析論，孟子和莊子各自的內聖外王思想，其實踐起點、轉折樞紐，均結穴於「身心之學」。要言之，「身心之學」實為孟子（儒家）與莊子（道家）內聖修養及外王實踐之根基。 復次，本文分別從「水喻」和「鏡喻」闡明孟子與莊子各自工夫論的特色及其主要精神，且更進一步地掘發「水喻」和「鏡喻」的底蘊：「水：神氣」與「金：真性」。 最後，本文認為儒道之間，大抵於最「根源∕終極」處，及最「基礎」處，可得其同；而在最「基礎」至最「根源∕終極」之間，則呈現千差萬別。具體說明，內聖方面，自現實性復歸本來性，孟子（儒家）和莊子（道家）均可同意「身心之學」是內聖修養之基礎，亦可承認「心—身」共構體共時涵攝神聖∕凡俗、先天∕後天、善∕惡、清∕濁等二面，此乃對生命最基礎處的相同主張；而對宇宙—生命最根源處，孟子（儒家）和莊子（道家）也都深體其乃是「意識、存有與價值三位一體」，或說「宇宙道體—意識主體—價值本體同根同源」，並共同宣稱本性乃是永恆真常（「金：真性」），心氣則為變化不拘（「水：神氣」）。可是，返本復初的工夫，則有萬千法門，亦即對於如何自現實性復歸本來性，孟子（儒家）和莊子（道家）便有不盡相同的教法。 此外，在外王方面，孟子（儒家）和莊子（道家）也均可贊成「身心之學」乃是成就外王事業的依據、基礎，或說「心—身」共構體是向外王領域前進的起點；對孟子（儒家）和莊子（道家）而言，實踐外王的終極理想，皆是祈願蒼生能夠安頓自家性命，內外一切真誠自然，歸德復道——儒家大同言其秩序，道家至德敘其自然，而安樂於內在之秩序，即是自然！同樣的，從「心—身」共構體推廣至成就外王，孟子（儒家）和莊子（道家）的舉措施為，當然有同有異。

Cette étude comparatiste porte sur le récit spéculaire chez Michel Butor et chez Ma Yuan. Dans l’objectif de mettre en lumière leur philosophie d’écriture romanesque, la fonction et les effets de miroir, nous cherchons à explorer les différentes sources et pratiques du récit spéculaire dans les contextes distincts français et chinois. À la lumière du procédé de la mise en abyme et des problématiques du récit qui en découlent (métalepse narrative, intertextualité, etc.), on se focalise sur L’Emploi du temps de Michel Butor et le Niugui sheshen (Fantôme à tête de taureau et dieu à corps de serpent) de Ma Yuan pour scruter les similtitudes et les divergences en matière de réflexivité, de miroir métaphorique, de recherche de formes nouvelles et de philosophie d’écriture. Pour ce faire, la thèse s’organise ainsi autour de deux thématiques majeures : d’un côté, les rapports entre les traditions chinoises (divination et taoïsme) avec les emprunts des modèles narratifs occidentaux, notamment français, dans le domaine culturel ou littéraire, et de l’autre, les rencontres franco-chinoises (sur le plan littéraire et surtout romanesque) source d’une interférence ou d’une influence croisée. / This thesis aims to study the embodiment of specular narrative in the novels of French writer Michel Butor and Chinese writer Ma Yuan. Based on this, we try to explore and then to discuss the common points of the two writers in their philosophy of writing and narrative innovation, such as the preference for metaphorical mirror and the mirror thinking applied in the novel. It can be seen that the origin and application of the mirror narrative is also different under the different background of the two countries. Based on the analysis of L’Emploi du temps of Michel Butor and Niugui sheshen (Bull-headed monster and half-serpent spirit) of Ma Yuan, we explore the similarities and differences about the reflexivity, metaphorical "mirror", narrative innovation and the writing philosophy. Specifically, this thesis focus on two central subjects: on the one hand, the relevance between the cultural tradition (divination and Taoism) and the borrowing occidental narrative forms in the field of literature and culture; on the other hand, it also reflects and discovers the mutual exchange and inter-influence between China and France. We focus on concept of specular narrative and related issues (such as narrative metalepsis and intertextuality) between the two representative writers. The thesis searches on the different application on the same specular narrative through vertical comparison, combined with the horizontal comparison, in order to ultimately reveal the real cultural code behind it.

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