Taoism and the Arts

Authors

Deborah A. Sommer (司馬黛蘭), Gettysburg CollegeFollow

Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2014

Department 1

Religious Studies

Abstract

This essay is Chapter 28 of The Oxford Handbook of Religion and the Arts edited by Frank Burch Brown (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014, pages 379-387). Religion and the Arts is one of the newest additions to the Oxford Handbook series, a project that explores reviews of recent academic research across disciplines. This edited volume of essays examines intersections of the visual and spiritual realms as they are expressed in religious traditions around the globe. Sommer's article, which was commissioned for Part III of this volume, "Religious Ways of Being Artistic," is a state-of-the-field review of recent Western-language scholarship on Taoism and the arts. Sommer explores problems concerning uses of the term "Taoism" and notes that Taoist art is as yet little understood. She understands "religious ways of being artistic" as including not only such media as painting and sculpture but as also including such diverse phenomena as calligraphy, talismans and diagrams, architecture, ritual performance, visualization, body movement, and constructions of sacred space.

Comments

Original version is available from the publisher at: http://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-oxford-handbook-of-religion-and-the-arts-9780195176674?cc=us&lang=en&tab=toc

Recommended Citation

Sommer, Deborah. "Taoism and the Arts." In Frank Burch Brown, ed., The Oxford Handbook of Religion and the Arts. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014: 379-387.