A brief exploration to the gist of Taoist leisure: from concepts to practice

ABSTRACTTaoism is the only indigenous Chinese religion and one of the most important ideological traditions that have a significant influence on leisure. Current Taoist leisure research mainly focuses on philosophical Taoism, an offshoot of the ‘real Taoism’. This paper will take philosophical Taoism and religious Taoism as a cultural whole and conduct a comprehensive, in-depth study of Taoist leisure, by paying more attention to its religious dimension, which is very esoteric, characteristic, and more of the essence of Taoism but rarely investigated before. We will explore Taoist leisure from the perspectives of philosophical bases, leisure concepts, pharmaceutical and life cultivation (i.e. alchemy, regimens), outdoor activities (i.e. seclusion, festivals, liturgy, travel) and its art practices (i.e. literature, paintings, music). Finally, we will make a concise comparison and exchange between the Taoist and the West leisure in the global vision.KEYWORDS: Taoismleisureconceptspracticealchemy AcknowledgementsThe first draft of this paper was completed in the Center for the Study of World Religions (CSWR) in Harvard University when I was a visiting scholar there in 2021-2022, I want to show my sincerest appreciation to my mentor (the director of CSWR) Charles M. Stang, ThD for his guidance, and Youssef Jounaidi PhD in Harvard Medical School for modifying my manuscript.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationFundingThe author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.Notes on contributorsYuqiang ZhaoYuqiang Zhao, was born and raised in mainland China, earned a Ph.D. in Chinese classical philology, was a postdoctoral scholar of leisure studies in Zhejiang University, a visiting scholar in the Center for the Study of World Religions in Harvard University, and is now an associate professor and graduate mentor in leisure studies in the School of Public Administration at Hangzhou Normal University and a member and director of the Leisure Society of Zhejiang Province in Hangzhou, China.