Legacy of a Dutch Taoist in China....

‘𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘛𝘢𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘰’

Early this month was the final 7th “Ritual of Ascension”, ending the mourning period for 施舟人 (Shi Zhouren) in the Xuanmiao Temple in Suzhou, better known in the West as Dutch national born Kristofer Schipper. Died on 18th of February, Schipper was Professor in #Sinology, initiated as Taoist Priest in 1967 after his study with Taoist master Chen Rongsheng in the Taiwanese city of Tainan.

His death has been commemorated in different temples in China, praised for his thoughts how #Taoism (and generally Chinese philosophy) is naturally embedded and alive in Chinese society. In the 70’s, he settled in #Paris and spent 25 years with his students researching, translating and classifying over 1,500 books and documents to produce the three-volume 1800-page “The Taoist Canon: A Historical Companion to Daozang”, reference for today's Taoist scholars.

He also wrote a book 'The Taoist Body' in 1994.

Upon retirement in 2001 he returned to #China and established the “Library of the Western Belvedere” (西观藏书楼) at Fuzhou University, making western literature on humanities and social sciences more accessible to Chinese scientists.

施舟人 (Shi Zhouren), Kristofer Schipper

Little known in the West, a Divine Legacy in China...