道教的性质

道教的性质古今不同,不能据今以推古。古代道教具有"贵生"不鄙夷女性"的特色,它不拜鬼神、禁止杀生、不奉祭牲、不处理丧葬事宜,也不绝欲。它在发展中羼入了民间的巫俗方术,在对性的态度上也有"起于不禁欲,继而纵欲,再则禁欲,转而虚欲,且复以性交为修真之秘要"的变化,但不能因此曲解道教的性质与特质。从研究方法论的角度批评了"由少数民族风俗论道教"由巫术解释道教"或"倚仗田野调查方法和民俗学方法论道教"的方法论之误,也批评了某些学者对道教斋醮科仪的误解,从而提出了作者的独特见解。

The Nature of Taoism

When we touch upon the nature of Taoism, we can not use the past to allude to the present, since there have been variations. Ancient Taoism was characterized by "value life" and "not despise women". It prohibited the killing of life, and did not worship ghosts and gods, offer animal sacrifice, deal with funeral affairs or suppress sensual passion. In the course of its evolution, it absorbed some ideas from folk witchcraft and its attitude to sex underwent a gradual change. However, this should not prevent us from interpreting correctly the nature and characteristics of Taoism. Instead, we need to make a critical judgment of the different explanations of Taoism from the perspective of research methodology.