DOCSLIB.ORG

A Postphenomenological Approach to Architectonics As Terraprocess

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A Postphenomenological Approach to Architectonics As Terraprocess UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Dark Ecologies of Knowledges: A Postphenomenological Approach to Architectonics as Terraprocess A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Information Studies by Jason Timothy Taksony Hewitt 2014 © Copyright by Jason Timothy Taksony Hewitt 2014 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Dark Ecologies of Knowledges: A Postphenomenological Approach to Architectonics as Terraprocess by Jason Timothy Taksony Hewitt Doctor of Philosophy in Information Studies University of California, Los Angeles, 2014 Professor Jonathan Furner, Chair This series of essays offers a critique of Information Studies, taken as a discipline largely concerned with informational objects and their representations on the one hand and the control of these same by means of other informational objects and their representations on the other. Spe- cifically, the critique put forward here attends to the ways that the common practices of Infor- mation Studies may reinforce representationalist ideologies that are historically problematic and that are likely to continue to be so into the future if allowed to persist. Such ideologies are bound up with histories of oppression, colonialism, and cognitive injustice in ways that seem likely to be undesirable to most practitioners upon consideration. The critique offered seeks to point out this conjunction of aesthetic and ethical issues in our practical epistemological constructs, open- ing out largely untried avenues of exploration with regard to our axiological habits—axiology ii being defined here as the inquiry that includes ethics, aesthetics, and epistemology—and the ar- chitectonic structures of meaning and understanding that we deploy with ever increasing density in (and occasionally as) the world. In the related field of semiotics, an assumption, bordering on a principle, obtains that meaning has structure and that that meaning is intelligible. The work of semiotic theorists has shown that this is not likely to be exclusively a logocentric prejudice. The works of Gilles Deleuze and his sometimes partner Felix Guattari, along with those of C.S. Peirce and Justus Buchler, each postulate in their own way that meaning and its structure are continuous with the world, and, going further, that the structures of meaning that exist in the world have no intrinsic limit to their complexity in a general sense other than the availability of resources to build that complexity. This is not equivalent to saying that the forms of such complexity are unlimited in the sense that they could take all possible forms, though the number of possible form-states may be infinite in principle when the availability of resources is bracketed off as a concern. That indi- cates to us the likelihood that no single ideology gives us a complete picture of all possible semi- otic modalities and that, with sufficient resources, multiple modalities may coexist and interact in a single system, event, or order. All of this places semiosis in a thermodynamic milieu between complex systems theory and computation theory, even while suggesting analogies to ecophe- nomenology and ecosystems thinking as an interpretation of Peircean "infinite semiosis." While semiotics, as an architectonic discipline, traces continuities with the Kantian para- digm, the Deleuzean approach represents a turn in philosophy both in expressive style and ways of doing philosophy, such that both a reinvestigation of semiotic structures and the production of new rhetorical modes are suggested in light of it—though Deleuze is a threshold for such mat- ters, not a container. Making use of Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, Niklas Luhmann, iii Luciano Floridi, and François Laruelle (as well as Patrick Wilson, Marcia Bates, and Jonathan Furner) to construct an ordinal semiotic compatible with various structural realisms, the argu- ments here commit to a pataphysical and hermetic swerve that aligns with the "Dark Deleuzean" aesthetics of Nick Land and Reza Negarestani, exploring the metaphor of darkness itself by way of the immanence theories of Timothy Morton and Eugene Thacker. The argument pattern de- scribed can be seen as an affirmation of possibly novel values of global, transspecies cognitive justice and "cognitive veganism" at least partially consistent with the ethical concerns and imag- es of thought of such thinkers as Richard Kahn and Stephen David Ross. Due to the emphasis on continuity with the world, the above motivates us to take serious- ly various posthumanistic rhetorics' priorities: cybernetics, informatics, thermodynamics, com- plex and autopoietic systems, codality, cognitive and neuro-diversity, enhanced and artificial in- telligence, postvitalist ecology, and perhaps even Singularity. Because of that same continuity, each of these should be necessarily thought in relation to planetarity and global history. Through that thought we can understand semiotic processes and ecologies as bound up with what Land has called a "terraprocess." Information Studies, as a discipline emerging into full fruition within the context of a posthumanistic moment, situated in turn within the Anthropocene Era, should understand and engage with this terraprocess as the architectonic syntax for a more fundamental informatic and metainformatic axiology. iv The dissertation of Jason Timothy Taksony Hewitt is approved. Johanna Drucker Anne Gilliland Richard Kahn Jonathan Furner, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2014 v TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................................. viii Vita ..................................................................................................................................................... ix 1. Prelude: Misanthropology ............................................................................................................ 2 2. Against Being ............................................................................................................................... 16 3. Interlude: Some Cartilage ............................................................................................................. 72 4. Dark Methods ............................................................................................................................... 74 5. Interlude: Sutures ....................................................................................................................... 122 6. Demiurge ..................................................................................................................................... 126 7. Conception .................................................................................................................................. 179 8. Interlude: In the Cracks ............................................................................................................. 224 9. The Stranger ............................................................................................................................... 232 10. Bathophilia ............................................................................................................................... 254 Bibliography .................................................................................................................................... 262 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 The Cartesian Cogito ................................................................................................................... 85 Figure 2 The Lacanian Ego ......................................................................................................................... 85 Figure 3 Classical Notes ........................................................................................................................... 166 Figure 4 Philip Glass, Opening of "Glassworks" ...................................................................................... 167 Figure 5 Wilden's Diagram ...................................................................................................................... 236 vii Acknowledgments I would like to thank several individuals for their support in my work on this dissertation. First and foremost, my gratitude and profound love go to Sean Taksony, my patient husband, who endured long hours of my work and the occasional temper tantrum as I tried to convince my brain to do things it probably isn’t capable of doing very well. Of course, my deep appreciation goes to Reginald Ray, my teacher, mentor, and friend, and to the Ven. René Feusi. I cannot fail to thank Jerry Irish, Zayn Kassam, Bill Whedbee, Peggy Dornish, Nona Olivia, Jean-François Blanchette, Marcia Bates, or Christine Borgman for the assistance and guidance they have given me over the years and for their infinite kindness. My dear friends Chris and Goni Bissell and Bryce and Judith Campbell have kept me sane and dedicated as I have undertaken this difficult task. Without them, this would not have happened. Jillian Wallis has been a support in life, friendship, and the dissertation process. I would also like to tip my hat to my old MySpace crew and to the staff of UCLA Extension (especially the Office of Instructional Enhancement and Dean Michelle Stiles), who have all aided me in so many ways. My gratitude to the Vajrapani Institute and to the Dharma Ocean Foundation go almost without saying. Andrew Lau has pa- tiently
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Rhetorical Code Studies Revised Pages
    Revised Pages rhetorical code studies Revised Pages Sweetland Digital rhetoric collaborative Series Editors: Anne Ruggles Gere, University of Michigan Naomi Silver, University of Michigan The Sweetland Digital Rhetoric Collaborative Book Series publishes texts that investigate the multiliteracies of digitally mediated spaces both within academia as well as other contexts. Rhetorical Code Studies: Discovering Arguments in and around Code Kevin Brock Developing Writers in Higher Education: A Longitudinal Study Anne Ruggles Gere, Editor Sites of Translation: What Multilinguals Can Teach Us about Digital Writing and Rhetoric Laura Gonzales Rhizcomics: Rhetoric, Technology, and New Media Composition Jason Helms Making Space: Writing, Instruction, Infrastrucure, and Multiliteracies James P. Purdy and Dànielle Nicole DeVoss, Editors Digital Samaritans: Rhetorical Delivery and Engagement in the Digital Humanities Jim Ridolfo diGitalculturebooks, an imprint of the University of Michigan Press, is dedicated to publishing work in new media studies and the emerging field of digital humanities. Revised Pages Rhetorical Code Studies discovering arguments in and around code Kevin Brock University of Michigan Press ann arbor Revised Pages Copyright © 2019 by Kevin Brock Some rights reserved This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Note to users: A Creative Commons license is only valid when it is applied by the person or entity that holds rights to the licensed work. Works may contain components (e.g., photo- graphs, illustrations, or quotations) to which the rightsholder in the work cannot apply the license. It is ultimately your responsibility to independently evaluate the copyright status of any work or component part of a work you use, in light of your intended use.
    [Show full text]
  • Download (8Mb)
    A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of Warwick Permanent WRAP URL: http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/110900 Copyright and reuse: This thesis is made available online and is protected by original copyright. Please scroll down to view the document itself. Please refer to the repository record for this item for information to help you to cite it. Our policy information is available from the repository home page. For more information, please contact the WRAP Team at: [email protected] warwick.ac.uk/lib-publications THE BRITISH LIBRARY BRITISH THESIS SERVICE COPYRIGHT Reproduction of this thesis, other than as permitted under the United Kingdom Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under specific agreement with the copyright holder, is prohibited. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. REPRODUCTION QUALITY NOTICE Th e quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the original thesis. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the highest quality of reproduction, some pages which contain small or poor printing may not reproduce well. Previously copyrighted material (journal articles, published texts etc.) is not reproduced. THIS THESIS HAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FLATLINE CONSTRUCTS: GOTHIC MATERIALISM AND CYBERNETIC THEORY-FICTION Mark Fisher Presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Philosophy University of Warwick July 1999 Numerous Originals in Colour Abstract FLATLINE CONSTRUCTS: GOTHIC MATERIALISM AND CYBERNETIC THEORY- FICTION Cyberpunk fiction has been called “the supreme literary expression, if not of postmodernism then of late capitalism itself.” (Jameson) This thesis aims to analyse and question this claim by rethinking cyberpunk Action, postmodernism and late capitalism in terms of three - interlocking - themes: cybernetics, the Gothic and fiction.
    [Show full text]
  • Is There a Future for Accelerationism?
    Is there a Future for Accelerationism? Abstract Accelerationism emerged from the insatiable market of ideas, a market that it attempts to intensify and ultimately repurpose in its own image. It is, however, an idea with consequences. The logic of accelerationism is not simply to exacerbate an inherent crisis of capitalism, either in order to provide a remedy in a more speedy fashion or consign it to its doom as a merciful gesture – putting it out of its misery, as it were. The process of acceleration underpinning the theory, of speeding up or intensification, is instead an active component of a re-imagined (post-)capitalism. This re-imagining is hyperstitional – a performative fiction invoked to overturn many seldom-questioned assumptions held across the academic spectrum. In attempting to foment the approach it both craves and envisages renders accelerationism almost unrecognisable as a serious contribution to academic debates on organisations and their management, even from critical perspectives. This article is not an attempt to accelerate nor to exemplify accelerationism, but instead contributes to the debate by identifying, examining and connecting core features of the conceptual framework underpinning the different approaches to accelerationism. It will focus in particular on Deleuze and Guattari’s contribution to this framework (desiring production; deterritorialisation; Body Without Organs, etc.) and examine their version of assemblage (agencement) as a way of conceptualising both the transformation of the machinery of capitalism
    [Show full text]
  • Horror of Philosophy
    978 1 84694 676 9 In the dust of this planet txt:Layout 1 1/4/2011 3:31 AM Page i In The Dust of This Planet [Horror of Philosophy, vol 1] 978 1 84694 676 9 In the dust of this planet txt:Layout 1 1/4/2011 3:31 AM Page ii 978 1 84694 676 9 In the dust of this planet txt:Layout 1 1/4/2011 3:31 AM Page iii In The Dust of This Planet [Horror of Philosophy, vol 1] Eugene Thacker Winchester, UK Washington, USA 978 1 84694 676 9 In the dust of this planet txt:Layout 1 1/4/2011 3:31 AM Page iv First published by Zero Books, 2011 Zero Books is an imprint of John Hunt Publishing Ltd., Laurel House, Station Approach, Alresford, Hants, SO24 9JH, UK [email protected] www.o-books.com For distributor details and how to order please visit the ‘Ordering’ section on our website. Text copyright: Eugene Thacker 2010 ISBN: 978 1 84694 676 9 All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publishers. The rights of Eugene Thacker as author have been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design: Stuart Davies Printed in the UK by CPI Antony Rowe Printed in the USA by Offset Paperback Mfrs, Inc We operate a distinctive and ethical publishing philosophy in all areas of our business, from our global network of authors to production and worldwide distribution.
    [Show full text]
  • The 100 Years Anglo-Chinese Calendar, 1St Jan. 1776 to 25Th Jan
    : THE 100 YEARS ANGLO-CHINESE CALENDAR, 1st JAN., 1776 to 25th JAN., 187G, CORRESPONDING WITH THE 11th DAY of the 11th MOON of the 40th YEAR of the EEIGN KIEN-LUNG, To the END of the 14th YEAR of the REIGN TUNG-CHI; TOGETIIER WITH AN APPENDIX, CONTAINING SEVERAL INTERESTING TABLES AND EXTRACTS. BY IP. LOUE;EIE,0. SHANGHAI rRINTED AT THE " NORTH-CHINA HERALD " OFFICE, 1872. -A c^ V lo ; ; PREFACE. In presenting the 100 Years Anglo-Chinese Calendar to the public, the compiler claims no originality for his work, inasmuch as, since the year 1832,* Calendars in somewhat similar form have been yearly issued from the press in China ; but, as it is doubtful if a complete series of these exists, and as, in the transaction of business, whether official, legal or commercial, between Foreigners and Chinese, and in the study of Chinese History which is now so intimately connected with foreign nations, a knowledge of the corresponding dates is quite necessary, it is hoped that this compilation will be found useful, and especially so in referring to the date of past events, and in deciding the precise day, according to the Chinese and Chris- tian Calendars, on which they occurred. Commencing with the last quarter of the past century (1st January, 1776), the Calendar embraces the peiiod when the first British Embassy (Lord Macartney's in 1793) arrived in China. For convenience sake the Calendar has been divided into 10 parts, each embracing a period of ten years of the Christian era and ends with the close of the 14th year of the present reign Tung-chi, —the 25th January, 1876.
    [Show full text]
  • The Origins of Beowulf Between Anglo-Saxon Tradition and Christian Latin Culture
    The Origins of Beowulf Between Anglo-Saxon Tradition and Christian Latin Culture Autor: Rubén Abellán García Tutor: Agustí Alemany Villamajó Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona 2019-2020 Index 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 2 1.1. The structure and transmission of Beowulf. ......................................................... 2 1.2. Literacy context during the creation period of Beowulf ....................................... 3 1.3. Historical Oral-formulaic and literacy research in Old studies ............................. 3 2. Latin Tradition in Beowulf ........................................................................................ 5 2.1. Latin syntax in Beowulf ...................................................................................... 5 2.2. Literary devices .................................................................................................. 6 2.2.1. Alliteration ...................................................................................................... 7 2.2.2. Formulas .......................................................................................................... 7 2.2.3. Compounding and Kennings ............................................................................ 8 2.2.4. Rhymes............................................................................................................ 8 2.2.5. Litotes and irony .............................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • King's Research Portal
    King’s Research Portal DOI: 10.1080/21693293.2019.1609199 Document Version Peer reviewed version Link to publication record in King's Research Portal Citation for published version (APA): Michelsen, N., & de Orellana, P. G. (2019). Discourses of Resilience in the US Alt Right. Resilience, International Policies, Practices and Discourses, 7(3), 271-287. https://doi.org/10.1080/21693293.2019.1609199 Citing this paper Please note that where the full-text provided on King's Research Portal is the Author Accepted Manuscript or Post-Print version this may differ from the final Published version. If citing, it is advised that you check and use the publisher's definitive version for pagination, volume/issue, and date of publication details. And where the final published version is provided on the Research Portal, if citing you are again advised to check the publisher's website for any subsequent corrections. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the Research Portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognize and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. •Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the Research Portal for the purpose of private study or research. •You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain •You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the Research Portal Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.
    [Show full text]
  • Illuminating the Darkness: the Naturalistic Evolution of Gothicism in the Nineteenth-Century British Novel and Visual Art
    University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research: Department of English English, Department of 8-2013 Illuminating the Darkness: The Naturalistic Evolution of Gothicism in the Nineteenth-Century British Novel and Visual Art Cameron Dodworth University of Nebraska-Lincoln Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/englishdiss Part of the Literature in English, British Isles Commons Dodworth, Cameron, "Illuminating the Darkness: The Naturalistic Evolution of Gothicism in the Nineteenth- Century British Novel and Visual Art" (2013). Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research: Department of English. 79. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/englishdiss/79 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the English, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research: Department of English by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. ILLUMINATING THE DARKNESS: THE NATURALISTIC EVOLUTION OF GOTHICISM IN THE NINETEENTH- CENTURY BRITISH NOVEL AND VISUAL ART by Cameron Dodworth A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major: English (Nineteenth-Century Studies) Under the Supervision of Professor Laura M. White Lincoln, Nebraska August, 2013 ILLUMINATING THE DARKNESS: THE NATURALISTIC EVOLUTION OF GOTHICISM IN THE NINETEENTH- CENTURY BRITISH NOVEL AND VISUAL ART Cameron Dodworth, Ph.D. University of Nebraska, 2013 Adviser: Laura White The British Gothic novel reached a level of very high popularity in the literary market of the late 1700s and the first two decades of the 1800s, but after that point in time the popularity of these types of publications dipped significantly.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 5 – Date
    Chapter 5 – Date Luckily, most of the problems involving time have mostly been solved and packed away in software and hardware where we, and our customers overseas, do not have to deal with it. Thanks to standardization, if a vender in Peking wants to call a customer in Rome, he checks the Internet for the local time. As far as international business goes, it’s generally 24/7 anyway. Calendars on the other hand, are another matter. You may know what time it is in Khövsgöl, Mongolia, but are you sure what day it is, if it is a holiday, or even what year it is? The purpose of this chapter is to make you aware of just how many active calendars there are out there in current use and of the short comings of our Gregorian system as we try to apply it to the rest of the world. There just isn’t room to review them all so think of this as a kind of around the world in 80 days. There are so many different living calendars, and since the Internet is becoming our greatest library yet, a great many ancient ones that must be accounted for as well. We must consider them all in our collations. As I write this in 2010 by the Gregorian calendar, it is 2960 in Northwest Africa, 1727 in Ethopia, and 4710 by the Chinese calendar. A calendar is a symbol of identity. They fix important festivals and dates and help us share a common pacing in our lives. They are the most common framework a civilization or group of people can have.
    [Show full text]
  • Quintet Blanquet / Masse / Shelton / Swarte / Ware
    QUINTET BLANQUET / MASSE / SHELTON / SWARTE / WARE DOSSIER DE PRESSE 113.023.02 > 119.04.099.04.09 Vernissage Affi che de l’exposition QUINTET par Joost Swarte Jeudi 12 février 2009 à 19h en présence des artistes Horaires d’ouverture du mercredi au dimanche de 12h à 19h Contacts presse Muriel Jaby / Élise Vion-Delphin T (33) 04 72 69 17 05 / 25 [email protected] Images 300 dpi disponibles sur demande Musée d’art contemporain Cité internationale 81 quai Charles de Gaulle 69006 LYON Cedex 06 T (33) 04 72 69 17 17 F (33) 04 72 69 17 00 www.mac-lyon.com QUINTET BLANQUET / MASSE / SHELTON / SWARTE / WARE 113.023.02 > 119.04.099.04.09 L’EXPOSITION 3 STÉPHANE BLANQUET 4 MASSE 6 GILBERT SHELTON 8 JOOST SWARTE 10 CHRIS WARE 12 CATALOGUE 14 INFOS PRATIQUES 15 QUINTETL’EXPOSITION QUINTET En 1967, Bande dessinée et Figuration narrative, présentée Chris Ware, auteur prolifi que au découpage novateur auBLANQUET Musée des Arts décoratifs à Paris, inaugurait l’entrée de la et exacerbé, présentera pour la première fois en bande dessinée dans le Musée. Cette exposition consistait à France un ensemble de plus de 70 planches dessinées légitimer la bande dessinée à travers la Figuration Narrative, dans un foisonnement de cases vertigineuses. De ou était-ce plutôt valoriser la Figuration Narrative par la Jimmy Corrigan à Quimby the Mouse en passant bande dessinée ? En tout état de cause, l’ambiguité demeure. par Big Tex, Rocket Sam ou Rusty Brown ; ses héros évoluent dans un univers saturé de signes.
    [Show full text]
  • July 2018 | Sedona Journal of Emergence
    AMAZING CHANNELS • PREDICTIONS • FEATURES • ET CONTACT UPDATES SEDONA JOURNAL OF EmergencePEACE TO ALL BEINGS JULY 2018 TOOLS FOR CONSCIOUS LIVING CHANNELS Jenine Beecher Robin Baldock & Brett Bevell Greg Branson Patrick Garlinger Alison David Bird Margaret Ann Lembo Lee Carroll Phyllis Light Rae Chandran Cornelis Reiman Cathy Chapman Mary Rodwell Judith Coates Jaap van Etten Arthur Fanning Carolyn Gervais PREDICTIONS Natalie Glasson Horoscopes Donna Taylor Cristi Jenkins Sri Ram Kaa & Astrology Kira Raa Michelle Karén Mary Elizabeth Hoffman Kathlyn Kingdon Luanne Numerology Lynn Buess Takeli MMagdalen Karinna Nielsen FEATURES Ronna Essences of Nature Miriandra Rota Ask the Angels Steve Rother Shamanic Wisdom Robert Shapiro Dream Zone Maureen St. Germain The Secret Wisdom of Animals James Tyberonn Benevolent Outcomes Maurene Watson Akashic Answers Catherine Bean Weser EarthWisdom Global Prayer Web Kathy Wilson Inspired Information GUIDANCE AS YOUR SPIRIT SELF BECOMES YOUR DAY-TO-DAY SELF % LIGHT TECHNOLOGY PUBLISHING PRESENTS OFF GEMATRIA 20REGULAR PRICE LASER-ENHANCED SUPPLEMENTS Gematria Products Inc. is the brainchild of Todd Ovokaitys, antiaging, brain performance, and joint support — though MD, CEO, and nutritional formulator. Dr. Todd, as he is called, there is something for every system of the body. Dr. Todd’s is a widely respected researcher, pioneering laser physicist, precise formulas are further enhanced by a patented laser speaker on the topics of antiaging and life enhancement, and technology called “quantum coherence modification,” or QCM an expert in the fields of longevity and DNA rejuvenation. TechnologyTM, which reshapes molecules and enhances their nutritional absorption. QCM TechnologyTM homogenizes the Products Gematria products are created with the intent to molecules, making them self-similar and thus easier for your provide the most scientifically advanced and safe nutritional body to use.
    [Show full text]
  • Glossary of Chinese Terms
    Glossary of Chinese Terms The English translations present my preferred translation first, followed by alternatives. Pinyin Chinese English Definition Bagua 八卦 Bagua The eight primary trigrams from the Book of Changes. See gua. dan 丹 dan, elixir, The substance responsible for the cinnabar, drug transformation of a human being into an immortal. dantian 丹田 dantian, Cinnabar Often presented simply as field 田, Field, Elixir Field this is the Lower Dantian, one of the Three Elixir Fields. It is an energetic center located in the abdomen, roughly three inches below the naval and three inches inside the body. However, locations change according to the internal alchemy teaching. Dao 道 Dao or Way Ultimate reality in Daoism. dizhi 地支 Earthly Branches, Ten components that are combined Terrestrial with the Heavenly Stems to make Branches the sixty-year cycle in the Chinese calendar. They are used in internal alchemy to manage times and means of practice. See tiangan. dong 洞 dong, grotto, Heavenly abodes. Xiao uses it to cavern mean the scaffolding of the body within which a person forms with a shen. Dumai 督脈 Governing Vessel The vessel beginning in the coccyx that lays along the spine, around the head, and ends at the upper lip. See mai. 210 Glossary of Chinese Terms (cont.) Pinyin Chinese English Definition fangshi 方士 master of the Commonly referred to as magicians methods in the West, these masters are consulted for various reasons, usually having to do with finding auscpicious dates for ritual events. In the Han, they were the first to develop pharmacopia for the pursuit of longevity and immortality.
    [Show full text]