Livia (Knaul) Kohn (born March 14, 1956) is an
emeritus professor
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
of Religion and East Asian Studies at
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
, specializing in studies of
Taoism
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of Philosophy, philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of China, Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmo ...
(or Daoism).
Kohn completed her
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...
at
Bonn University
The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...
in 1980.
She has held academic positions at
Kyoto University
, mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture
, established =
, type = National university, Public (National)
, endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 1000000000 (number), billion USD)
, faculty = 3,480 (Teaching Staff)
, administrative_staff ...
(1981–1986),
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
(1986–1987), and Boston University (1988–2006).
Kohn has authored or edited over 50 books and many articles on Daoism.
She has served as an executive editor of Three Pines Press since 2000 and the ''Journal of Daoist Studies'' since 2008.
Kohn is a multilingual scholar and has written or translated works in German, English, Chinese, and Japanese.
Livia Kohn was cited as a prolific scholar of Daoism early in her career.
However, her influence on Western cultural understanding of Daoism and other East Asian religious practices extends beyond the scholarly literature. Kohn practices
tai chi
Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called "shadowboxing", is an neijia, internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and medita ...
, is a certified instructor of
yoga
Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...
and
qigong
''Qigong'' (), ''qi gong'', ''chi kung'', ''chi 'ung'', or ''chi gung'' () is a system of coordinated body-posture and movement, breathing, and meditation
used for the purposes of health, spirituality, and martial-arts training. With roots in ...
,
and leads workshops, seminars, and tours of Japan.
Selected works
* ''Early Chinese Mysticism: Philosophy and Soteriology in the Taoist Tradition.'' Princeton University Press, 1992, ISBN 978-0691073811
* ''The Taoist Experience: An Anthology''. State University of New York Press, New York, 1993, ISBN 978-0791415801
* ''Daoism Handbook''. Brill Verlag, Leiden, Boston, Cologne, 2000, ISBN 90-04-11208-1
* ''Daoist Identity: History, Lineage and Ritual''. University of Hawai'i Press, 2002, ISBN 978-0824825041
* Monastic Life in Medieval Daoism: A Cross-Cultural Perspective. University of Hawai'i Press, 2003, ISBN 978-0824826512
* ''Daoism and Chinese Culture''. University of Hawai'i Press, 2005, ISBN 978-1931483001
* ''Daoist Body Cultivation: Traditional Models and Contemporary Practices''. Three Pines Press, 2006, ISBN 978-1931483056
* ''Chinese Healing Exercises: The Tradition of Daoyin''. University of Hawai'i Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0824832698
* ''Seven stages of Taoist meditation: the Zuòwànglùn''. Medical-Literary Publishing Company, Uelzen, 2010, ISBN 978-3-88136-248-1
References
1956 births
Living people
{{reli-studies-bio-stub