{"product_id":"traditions-of-exemplary-transcendents-by-liu-xiang-79-8-bce","title":"Traditions of Exemplary Transcendents by Liu Xiang (79–8 BCE)","description":"\u003cp\u003eBy the middle of the third century BCE, some people in China had begun to imagine it possible to employ esoteric methods to refashion themselves into posthuman beings with spirit-like capabilities, enhanced bodies, and greatly extended lifespans. Such beings were termed transcendents (\u003cem\u003exian\u003c\/em\u003e 仙). \u003cem\u003eTraditions of Exemplary Transcendents\u003c\/em\u003e (\u003cem\u003eLiexian zhuan\u003c\/em\u003e 列仙傳), attributed to the imperial bibliographer Liu Xiang 劉向 (79-8 BCE), is the earliest extant collection of colorful stories about such figures. This volume makes available a critical edition and the first complete, annotated English translation of a text preserving some of the earliest mentions of alchemical, dietary, and medicinal methods of self-cultivation that later became standard in transcendence-seekers’ repertoire of practices. Through this work we can already glimpse the sorts of engagements with local communities that made the quest for transcendence a matter of keen interest not just to practitioners themselves but to many in Chinese society for centuries thereafter.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"De Gruyter","offers":[{"title":"Default Product","offer_id":57427932807512,"sku":"9783112236871","price":40.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/traditions-of-exemplary-transcendents-by-liu-xiang-79-8-bce","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}