This semester we will read the text 內業 'Inner Training', a philosophical poem about self cultivation, probably written around 400 BC. The entire text is rhymed, and most lines are tetrasyllabic (four syllables per line). Some scholars argue that this is the very first Daoist text in existence, and that the much more famous Lǎozǐ 老子 is heavily indebted to it. Our text has been transmitted as a small part of an otherwise non-Daoist collection known as the Guǎnzǐ 管子, and it has received limited attention throughout the centuries.
We will read the text with an eye both to its philosophical content and its literary form.
As background, we will also look at other similar texts in the Guǎnzǐ: 心術上 'Techniques of the Mind I', 心術下 'Techniques of the Mind II', and 白心 ‘The Purified Mind'. If we have the time, we will also look at excerpts from other early texts on self cultivation.
When translating the text, we will consult Chinese commentaries, as well as two English annotated translations:
Harold D. Roth: Original Tao: Inward Training (Nei-yeh) and the Foundations of Taoist Mysticism. New York: Columbia University Press 1999.
W. Allyn Rickett: Guanzi: Political, Economic and Philosophical Essays from Early China. Vol. II. Princeton: Princeton University Press 1998.
These also contain valuable information and discussions about our text.
You may borrow the books by Rickett and Roth at the University Library. To do so, you have to bring your Student ID Card and tell the person at the counter that you are a KIN4022-student (they should be aware that these books are available on a trolley on the first floor). You cannot take the books out of the library, and you may only borrow them for one day at the time. You have to sign up on a list, both when borrowing the books and returning them.