From Regal Way to Political Quietism: The Lives of Zhu Quan, Disciplinary Communities, and Our Daoisms

The Prince of Ning Zhu Quan (1378–1448) is one of the most conspicuous figures in the history of Ming Daoism. Indeed, Zhu Quan paved the way for the institutionalization of Daoism among Ming princes. The present article historicizes the role of Daoism as an interpretative key in late imperial accounts of Zhu Quan’s life and scholarship. In investigating this subject, I illuminate a historical dynamic obliterated from modern accounts of Chinese intellectual history. Namely, how Daoism went from regal way to political quietism in late imperial China.