Abstract

This dissertation centers on the Book of Transformation , a work of metaphysical, socio-political, and internal alchemical theory first published in southern China in 930 A.D. The thesis includes three parts. ;Part I examines Chinese conceptions of universal unity through the thirteenth century A.D. "Universal unity" here includes metaphysical-physical, socio-political, and doctrinal unities. Viewed from the unifying perspective of the metaphysics of hua , eight early seminal Taoistic and Confucian philosophical texts reveal their essential adherence to one metaphysical sub-structure that resurfaces again in Taoistic works--including the Hua Shu--of the eighth through eleventh centuries. This reinvigorated metaphysics exerted influence on later internal alchemical theories of self-cultivation and Sung Dynasty Neo-Confucian cosmogonies. The Hua Shu's own particular application of this metaphysics influenced both a significant syncretic lineage of Nan-tsung/Ch'uan-chen Taoist alchemy and the Neo-Confucian thinkers Chou Tun-yi, Shao Yung, and Chu Hsi. ;The Hua Shu infused into the resuscitated ancient metaphysical sub-structure the T'ang Dynasty T'ien-t'ai Buddhist concept of the tathagata-garbha, the one unifying nature of the universe. Thus could the Hua Shu achieve an absolute universal unity without negating the mundane, and transmit this new conception to Chu Hsi through expression in classical Chinese terminology and thought structures. ;Part II consists of a complete and annotated translation of the Hua Shu. ;Through biographical reconstructions and a textual history, Part III attempts to settle two controversies long surrounding the Hua Shu. First, three men, Sung Ch'i-ch'iu, T'an Ch'iao, and/or T'an Tzu-hsiao, have been identified historically as the book's author. Although Sung Ch'i-ch'iu first published the Hua Shu, Taoists have claimed that Sung stole the work from its rightful author, T'an Ch'iao. Furthermore, many have identified T'an Ch'iao with T'an Tzu-hsiao. I conclude that T'an Ch'iao and T'an Tzu-hsiao almost certainly were two men, and likely both T'an Ch'iao and Sung Ch'i-ch'iu wrote the Hua Shu: Having conceived of the book and its fundamental ideas himself, perhaps under Sung's patronage T'an Ch'iao then composed the essence of the book. Sung thereafter completed or edited it