Guides
Practical guides to reading, practice and study.
A Map of Chinese Contemplative Traditions
One page, four families: Daoist, Buddhist, Confucian, and the health-cultivation arts — how they relate, where they borrowed from each other, and which site pages hold each one.
Chinese Meditation Explained: A Map of Traditions, Terms, and Evidence
An orientation guide to Chinese contemplative traditions: what 'meditation' maps onto in Chinese sources, the five core practices (zuowang, xinzhai, shouyi, jingzuo, Chan sitting), and how to read claims about them.
Chinese Meditation Terms Explained
A term-by-term orientation: dao, de, qi, jing, shen, wuwei — and the practice terms zuowang, xinzhai, shouyi, jingzuo, tiaoxi, taixi, neiguan, cunsi — each with its one-line meaning and the page that holds the detail.
Daoist Meditation Explained: Practices, Sources, and What to Expect
The entry guide to Daoist meditation specifically: the five practices, what the sources actually are (parables, manuals, lineages), the evidence situation, and honest expectations.
How to Read Daoist Meditation Texts: A Practical Guide
A method guide for reading the sources: parable vs manual vs commentary, dating and attribution risks, what the texts can and cannot be made to say.
What Is Neiguan? A Plain-Language Introduction
The entry-level version of inner observation: the Neiguan Jing's instruction, what is observed, how it differs from visualization — with links into the practice, glossary, and text pages.
What Is Shouyi? A Plain-Language Introduction
The entry-level version of guarding the One: the Daodejing's question, the Han practice, what guarding means in practice — with links into the concept, practice, and text pages.
What Is Zuowang? A Plain-Language Introduction
The entry-level version of sitting-and-forgetting: what the term means, where it comes from, what it looks like in practice — with links down into the concept page, the manual, and the comparisons.
What Modern Research Can and Cannot Tell Us About Meditation
The research layer in one page: what the nine study records on this site establish, the adjacent-evidence boundary that runs through all of them, and why no study of Daoist sitting exists.