Abstract
Shangqing Taoist Sect's meditation method of "thought-holding" was similar to literary imagination in that it was characterized by a pictorial thinking, and this method inserted deep influence on the Taoist fiction writing in the pre-Song Dynasty. Some authors writing about immortal beings sat in meditation in front of the portraiture and wrote their novels, and some authors wrote out of their mystic illusions resulted from long and intensive meditation, and some authors wrote out of supernatural inspirations. The descriptions about the geography, plants, the clothes and pageants of the immortals reflected the influence from the Taoist portraiture and the process of writing followed the process of Taoist meditation method. The paper concludes that Taoist meditative method greatly broadens the literary imagination in ancient Chinese literature and has profound influence on later Taoist fictions and popular novel writing.
First Page
178
Last Page
189
Recommended Citation
Wan, Qingchuan. 2016. "The Influence of Shangqing Taoist Sect's Meditation Method on the Pre-Song-Dynasty Fictions." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 36, (3): pp.178-189. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol36/iss3/17
