Declarations of the Perfected: Part One: Setting Scripts and Imaegs into Motion

Declarations of the Perfected is the first complete, annotated translation of the Zhen’gao, Tao Hongjing’s (456–536) masterful compilation of the Shangqing, or Higher Clarity revelations, setting the stage for the heyday of medieval Daoism. This volume presents its first part (fasc. 1–4), centering around the practice of achieving “spiritual union,” a spiritual analogue to sexual intercourse, with Perfected partners. The book is the first to examine in depth the full process of this practice.

• Thomas E. Smith, Author

  Thomas E. Smith received his Ph.D. in Chinese from the University of Michigan, then worked twenty years as a translator and editor for Taiwan’s Bureau of Foreign Trade before moving back to Ann Arbor in 2016. He is now a full-time, free-lance translator and editor of scholarly books and articles, mostly in Chinese social sciences and fine arts.