Explorations in Daoism

Ho Peng Yoke has published widely on Chinese alchemy, astronomy, divination and mathematics. He occupied senior academic positions in Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and Hong Kong before becoming the Director of the Needham Research Institute in 1990. On his retirement at the end of 2001 he became its Emeritus Director. He is an academician of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, Academia Sinica and the International Euro-Asia Academy of Science.

• Author's Preface. Preface by T.H. Barrett 1. Introduction 2. On the Dating of Alchemical Texts 3. Danfang Jianyuan and Danfang Jingyuan 4. Partial Restoration, Collation and Translation of Lost Alchemical Texts 5. General Discussions. Appendix 1: Beyond the Daoist Canon: Proto-Chemistry in the Pharmacopoeia. Appendix 2: Extracts from Al-Biruni's Pharmacopoeia with added Commentaries

"Ho's mastery of the history of science in China is awe inspiring...this is an extremely well-edited volume, with in-text Chinese characters, chemical formulas, and extensive cross-referencing. It will be an essential reference for scholars of the history of Daoism, alchemy, and Chinese science." - Bridie Andrews Minehan, ISIS, 100:1 (2009)"Based on solid scholarship in both the natural sciences and history of religions, this collection of articles by Ho Pend Yoke makes an invaluable contribution to our understanding of Daoist alchemy. It presents important materials, both from within the Canon and beyond, in their original wording and with careful examination of their provenance, editorial history, and traditional relevance. The scholarship is impeccable and the work most essential – providing access to materials otherwise hidden in the nebulous realm of Daoist alchemy and encouraging scholars to engage more actively in the interdisciplinary examination of traditional sources." – Livia Kohn, EASTM