Essay 6.1 In the late Han period, a sweeping anxiety concerning the ending of the present cosmic cycle had taken the populous on whole. It was their belief that their world, and universe in general was at the cusp of a great turning point, of which they could not reconcile the current state of being they had become so familiar with. However the in the Purple Texts, Yang Xi’s calculations of time cycles leave many specifics to the speculation of the reader. Such uncertainties led to numerous accounts of the actual string of events leading to the end time’s narrative. Though the technicalities were contested, the messages in the purple text makes clear Yang Xi sensed the final years of his society were at hand. The details of this apocalyptic scenario envisioned the destruction of all evil nested in the old world, though also the salvation of those deemed “seed people” in order that they may carry forward from their home to a new heaven and earth. Thusly, this dichotomy of good and evil leveraged one’s inclination for self-preservation and resonated the core of every disciple. However, it was also known the Purple Texts held such power that one who gained access and devoted themselves to its teachings was thereby saved from the coming ruin. Worldly manifestations enlightenment were discouraged as the Confucian virtues were alleged to only qualify one through transcendence for the lowest places of celestial bureaucracy upon the cycle’s reestablishment. Along these sentiments, people were encouraged to immediately start their own study of the practices endorsed by the Purple Texts so they may make it onto the list of the seed people. Although message of salvation through the Purple Texts had reached its audience, the population at large still went uneasily about their place among a new earth and heaven. The bureaucratic culture of the Daoist religion had washed their aspirations with expectation and doubt. Disciples sought discern the order or rank they may attain in the renewed earth and heaven. With this sentiment, the Purple Texts outlines what was then known as the “Marks of Transcendence”, characterized by the interpretation of bodily details that were ascribed a propensity of greater calling for the person with such physical distinctions. Such a practice closely mirrored the foundations of physiognomy, a practice that drew distinct contention through the Doaist contemporary. However in late the Han period, a corporate culture had overtaken society’s structure and individualism was looked down upon in order for ritualistic orthodoxy to flourish. Thus the importance of a method to discern the core mettle of a person arose to the consensus of all who held anxieties towards the imposing fate of end times. The “Marks of Transcendence” depicted even hidden features of a person, only known to the spirits, characteristics of which communicated a person’s moral character as well as the condition of one’s book of life in the myriad heavens. Howev ...

1. Essay 6.1
In the late Han period, a sweeping anxiety concerning the
ending of the present cosmic cycle had taken the populous on
whole. It was their belief that their world, and universe in
general was at the cusp of a great turning point, of which they
could not reconcile the current state of being they had become
so familiar with. However the in the Purple Texts, Yang Xi’s
calculations of time cycles leave many specifics to the
speculation of the reader. Such uncertainties led to numerous
accounts of the actual string of events leading to the end time’s
narrative. Though the technicalities were contested, the
messages in the purple text makes clear Yang Xi sensed the
final years of his society were at hand.
The details of this apocalyptic scenario envisioned the
destruction of all evil nested in the old world, though also the
salvation of those deemed “seed people” in order that they may
carry forward from their home to a new heaven and earth.
Thusly, this dichotomy of good and evil leveraged one’s
inclination for self-preservation and resonated the core of every
disciple. However, it was also known the Purple Texts held such
power that one who gained access and devoted themselves to its
teachings was thereby saved from the coming ruin. Worldly
manifestations enlightenment were discouraged as the
Confucian virtues were alleged to only qualify one through
transcendence for the lowest places of celestial bureaucracy
upon the cycle’s reestablishment. Along these sentiments,
people were encouraged to immediately start their own study of
the practices endorsed by the Purple Texts so they may make it
onto the list of the seed people.
Although message of salvation through the Purple Texts had
reached its audience, the population at large still went uneasily

2. about their place among a new earth and heaven. The
bureaucratic culture of the Daoist religion had washed their
aspirations with expectation and doubt. Disciples sought discern
the order or rank they may attain in the renewed earth and
heaven. With this sentiment, the Purple Texts outlines what was
then known as the “Marks of Transcendence”, characterized by
the interpretation of bodily details that were ascribed a
propensity of greater calling for the person with such physical
distinctions. Such a practice closely mirrored the foundations of
physiognomy, a practice that drew distinct contention through
the Doaist contemporary. However in late the Han period, a
corporate culture had overtaken society’s structure and
individualism was looked down upon in order for ritualistic
orthodoxy to flourish. Thus the importance of a method to
discern the core mettle of a person arose to the consensus of all
who held anxieties towards the imposing fate of end times. The
“Marks of Transcendence” depicted even hidden features of a
person, only known to the spirits, characteristics of which
communicated a person’s moral character as well as the
condition of one’s book of life in the myriad heavens.
However in review, the Purple Texts make little effort to
correlate a profound sense of urgency with which the texts
describe the exact occurrence of the end times and could more
accurately be said to establish a perpetual sense of scrutiny
under the witness of heavenly judgment. Therein the Daoist
religion ordained a measuring apparatus fueled by the fear of
personal destruction.
Essay6.2
The basic truth of life is that all things come to an end, or at
least that everything in life will eventually change. This was the
case for Daoism, as we saw the change from the Celestial
Masters into Yang Xi’s Shangqing Daoism in the later 4th
century CE. Some obvious changes include the introduction of
the Perfected and the higher heaven in which they reside.

3. Another change, however, hit closer to the teachings of the
Celestial Masters. While in the Xiang’er physiognomy was
forbidden, Yang Xi’s Purple Texts brought back many aspects
of physiognomy for the purpose of swaying his aristocratic
followers.
Among Yang Xi’s Purple Texts, elements of physiognomy
existed and returned to Daoist practice. This means that
writings in the Purple Texts dealt with beliefs on fate, and ways
to signify one’s destiny to be greater than those not on their
level. These included specific physical markings one may have,
such as certain symbols on the hand or perhaps a particular
constellation appearing on their back. Other hidden or
metaphysical examples were included in the text, so one without
these physical attributes may still be able to feel special. These
included features such as azure bones and white blood. The
reason for these hidden signifiers was to still hold the ability
for Yang Xi to sway other aristocrats into following and
funding his texts.
It seems that the return of physiognomy to Daoism within the
Purple Texts came as a way to serve the egos of those
aristocratic fellows following Yang Xi. They wanted to feel
special, or feel an affirmation in their higher socioeconomic
status. While Celestial Master Daoism seemed to have a bias
against a luxurious life of wealth, scriptures like the Purple
Texts may have been written specifically to cater to rich
families like the Xus and others within their social networks.
Aristocrats enjoy the life they have, and they especially enjoy
reasons to feel that they deserve the life they’ve been born to.
For this reason, the Purple Texts included means of affirmation
that the aristocrats around Yang Xi could believe in. Fate came
back into their beliefs and practices, so as to prove these
individuals were intentionally born into greatness and had a
better chance at transcendance than those lower than them.
[

4. Conclusion]
(This is just brainstorming, I will of course add actual quotes
and citations in the final draft.)
Hi everyone:
I thought it might be helpful for me to address the distinctions
between scholarly, peer-reviewed journal articles and other
source material as you begin your research for the assigned
research article for the course. As a reminder, instructions for
the Research Paper for the course are found within Blackboard
by clicking on the link for “Reaction and Research Papers…” in
the left hand column of the course home screen. Scroll down
after clicking on this link, fully read the instructions for this
assignment, and then click on the title “Instructions of Research
Paper (Graded) and for Research Paper Discussion Forum
Submissions” to locate the submission link for your paper.
Scholarly, peer-reviewed journal articles are those articles
published in peer-reviewed journals that address a particular
field of study (e.g., psychology) and involve quantitative and /
or qualitative research findings. The articles are referred to as
“peer-reviewed” because, before they are accepted for
publication, researchers who do similar research in the
discipline review the articles to ensure that they seem to follow
sound theory and research methodology.
Articles obtained from the Internet are generally posted by a
single individual or organization and are not peer-reviewed.
Additionally, books are generally not considered peer-reviewed.
One way in which you can locate peer-reviewed, scholarly
journal articles as you respond to course-related requirements is
to access articles from the MDC Library through the
PsycArticle database. You can access the MDC library from
your home and obtain full text, scholarly, peer-reviewed journal
articles through this link. Most articles within this database are
peer-reviewed, and the journals within this database are

5. published by the American Psychological Association. To
access an article through PsycArticles via the MDC library:
From mdc.edu, click on “Libraries” in the left-hand column
Be sure that you are on the “Libraries” tab of this screen, and
click on the blue hyperlink “More databases” by the words
“Find Articles –“
Log in to the MDC library:
Enter your borrower ID - Your Borrower ID is your MDC
Student ID
Enter your Pin / Password – Your Pin / Password is the last four
digits of your MDC Student ID
Click Login
Use the scroll bar on the right of the screen to scroll down to
“PsycArticles (EBSCO) and click on this blue hyperlink
Before searching this database for articles, be sure to use the
scroll bar on the right side of this screen and scroll down and
click the boxes under:
Full text
Exclude book reviews
Exclude non-article content
Then, scroll back to the top of the screen and enter a keyword
phrase (e.g., REM sleep) and click “Search”
Scroll down to view the search results, to read the articles, to
print / save the articles
1
Essay 1
In The Origins of the Legend of Lao Tan Lao-Tzu is depicted
as one person from two

6. different kingdoms. There is a phrase on the first page that is
interesting and is the following “a
good merchant fills his store-houses but appears to have
nothing: a true gentleman is overflowing
with virtue but looks as if he was a fool” (pp.23) and this man
was from Chou. The next phrase
that is interesting is “Lao-Tzu lived at least 160 years, some say
at least 200 years, as a result of
cultivating the Way and nurturing longevity (pp.24)” and this
man was from Ch’u. It appears that
those two phrases relate the best to the Dao De Jing the best (at
least what we looked at so far in
class). With these couple of phrases it appears that the tale of
Laozi is Daoist; but compared to
Confucianism to make it completely Chinese in origin.
The first phrase that I mentioned about the merchant filling his
store house but appears to
have nothing seems to be referring to what the Dao De Jing says
“he accumulates an abundance
of virtue.” This passage seems to be behind the description of
Laozi, because a merchant with
nothing tangible to sell cannot be a merchant (for long). The
first part also appears to be talking
about “that which is completely empty endures” in the Dao that

7. we have read so far it mentions
that to follow the Dao to be whole you must be empty.
The second part of the first phrase I think came from the Dao
De Jing as well and not
from Confucianism. In the first part of the Guodian it says “cut
off knowledge and discard
disputation, cut off skill and discard benefit, and cut off
purposiveness and discard worry.” By
cutting off all these things a person would look like a fool.
Also, by cutting off these things a
person would appear to have nothing and therefore would
appear to be the only one left in his
family, which would be a bad thing in Confucianism (have no
family).
2
The second phrase that I mentioned also appears to be written
after the Dao De Jing and
to be Daoist in origin. In Confucianism you continuously live
through being remembered by later
generations; but in Daoism there are passages that appear to try
and lead you toward finding

8. immortality or long life. The second phrase mentioned that
Laozi lived for as long as 200 years
by cultivating the Way thus was able to nurture longevity.
One of the parts of the Dao says “they are born and move,
move and reach death” and
another passage says “through attempting nothing, everything
will be done.” These two passages
would seem to promote a Daoist origin, because they are
encouraging longevity and eventually
immortality. The first passage that I wrote appears to be talking
about making only necessary
movements as to not waste the energy that feeds the souls. The
second passage appears to mean
that through following the Dao things will fall into place on
their own which will promote
longevity because you do not move or endanger yourself.
In conclusion, the tale of Laozi appears to be written after the
Dao De Jing and Daoist in
origin, because of what appear to be references to the Dao De
Jing. Also, with the discussion of
souls and long life in your body you can see the differences
between Daoist thought and
Confucian thought.

9. 3
Paper #7
Please read the papers assigned to you carefully two or three
times and then complete the following:
1) What is the author’s thesis statement?
The tale of Laozi appears to be written after the Dao De Jing
and Daoist in origin, because of what
appear to be references to the Dao De Jing.
2) Does the author argue for his or her thesis consistently and
logically? List three sentences that
support the main thesis.
His or her argument seems a little scattered and unorganized…
a. The second phrase that I mentioned also appears to be written
after the Dao De Jing and
to be Daoist in origin.
b. These two passages would seem to promote a Daoist origin,
because they are
encouraging longevity and eventually immortality
c. The first part also appears to be talking about “that which is
completely empty endures”

10. in the Dao that we have read so far it mentions that to follow
the Dao to be whole you must
be empty.
3) Were you convinced by the argument? Why or why not?
Not really, sorry. I had a hard time following what you were
arguing and some of the things in your paper
did not seem to relate well with the other things, such as the
opening paragraph when you talk about the
man from two kingdoms and the parts about Confucianism.
4) Write down two constructive suggestions that might improve
the paper.
a. Move your first sentence of your conclusion to the beginning
and make it your thesis. It
was the clearest sentence in terms of telling me what your
argument really was, but it
didn’t come until the end.
b. Cut out or work on tying in better the parts of your paper that
don’t solidly support that
thesis. The parts about Confucianism could be related better,
they just seemed to come
out of nowhere. Maybe you could say something like, “A
Confucian author would not
have made Laozi this way because of this.”