Bonus Episode: Liu Yiming's Preface to "The True Intent of the Journey to the West"

Tales of the Fat Monk

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Liu Yiming was one of the greatest Daoists of the eighteenth century, with numerous writings on all the Daoist classics.
He was afraid however that the world would ignore what he saw as a crucial text for human development, simply because it did not conform to what people might expect such a text to look like* and therefore only read it for entertainment.
The text he had in mind was "Journey to the West" which we know as the adventures of Monkey, and so he wrote a detailed commentary pointing out the hidden depths and alchemical secrets expressed through the plotline, characters, and their interactions.
Here, for the first time in English (I believe) is Liu Yiming's preface to that work, setting forth an overview of his undertanding and his intent in writing the text.
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*Almost as if one were to say that a book such as Dune contained important developmental material layered within the surface content of the story. Most people looking for "enlightenment" would not look twice at a sci-fi novel as having any value at all.

SHOW NOTES:
Xiaoyao Xingzhe, the self-styled carefree pilgrim, has lived and worked all over the world, having crossed the Gobi in a decrepit jeep, lived with a solitary monk in the mountains of Korea, dined with the family of the last emperor of China, and helped police with their enquiries in Amarillo, Texas.
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Visit the Fat Monk Website: https://thefatmonk.net/
for pdfs of all recorded chapters and a few more, as well as other bits of interest on Daoism, Buddhism and Neidan, with an emphasis (but not a limitation) on pre-twentieth century authors such as Huang Yuanji and Li Daochun.
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