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The Cosmos as Creative Mind: Spontaneous Arising, Generating, and Creating in the Heng Xian

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Abstract

One of the key concepts in the Heng Xian is the concept of creation, as expressed through a process of spontaneous arising and spontaneous generation. This article analyzes the mechanics of spontaneous creation in terms of the cosmogony that is prominent in the text. I also show how psychomorphic descriptions of the cosmos—associated with the process of cosmogenesis—provide an explanation for change and movement in the cosmos as well as a template for idealized human action in the world. Lastly, I suggest a possible cultural context in which such descriptions of creation became prominent in the late Warring States period.

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  1. Department of History, Pennsylvania State University, 108 Weaver Building, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Erica F. Brindley

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  1. Erica F. Brindley
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Brindley, E.F. The Cosmos as Creative Mind: Spontaneous Arising, Generating, and Creating in the Heng Xian . Dao 12, 189–206 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11712-013-9325-2

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