Traditionalist Taoism in Peru

A new article identifies the Traditionalist emphases in a Spanish translation of the Laozi (the Dào Dé Jīng) done by the Peruvian scholar and Traditionalist Onorio Ferrero (1908–1989). It is Filippo Costantini, “Laozi’s Intercultural Reception: A Journey from Europe to Latin America,” Asian Studies 14 (2): 415–437, available here (open access).

Costantini identified 57 translations of the Laozi, and selected three to be examined in his article, chosen to “reflect distinct phases and methodologies.” “Ferrero’s translation,” he writes, “greatly influenced the local circulation of the text, being one of the few editions published in the country [Peru], and also reached a wider Spanish-speaking audience through numerous reprints.”

There are several telling examples of “Traditionalization” given, including the translation of yan you zong 言有宗 (my words have an ancestor) as “my words derive from a Primordial Tradition,” and of daoji 道紀 (continuity of the Dao) as “initiation to the Dao.”

The case of Ferrero illustrates a wider phenomenon, that while Traditionalist scholars have over the years done important work in explaining non-Western religions to Western audiences, this work brings with it Traditionalist understandings that are visible only to those who, like Costantini, know where to look.

For more on Ferrero and Peru, see Mark Sedgwick, “Guénonian Traditionalism in South American Literature and Academia.” International Journal of Latin American Religions 5:1 (2021): 164–80, available here. 

Evola’s two translations of the Dàodéjīng

In a new article, Davide Marino has traced the development of Julius Evola’s thought by comparing his two translations of the Dàodéjīng, one published in 1923 and the other in 1959. It is “The Tao of Julius Evola,” Vienna Journal of East Asian Studies (2024), available here (open access).

According to the abstract,

Evola had no knowledge of the Chinese language, and his works were retranslations of materials available at his time to which he added his own personal ideas…. [He moved] from an interpretation of the Dàodéjīng characterised by a mix of Dadaism, Hegelian Idealism, and occultism to a version in line with Traditionalism… [but] despite changing his vocabulary and sources, Evola continued to seek confirmation of his solipsistic theory of the ‘Absolute Individual’ in the ancient Chinese text.

New thesis looks at Pouvourville and his impact on Guénon

A new thesis sheds new and important light on Eugène Albert Puyou de Pouvourville (1861–1939), his understanding of Taoism, and his influence on René Guénon. It is "Chinese Whispers: Albert de Pouvourville, René Guénon, and Traditionalism’s Hidden 'Chinese Roots,'" by Davide Marino, submitted at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and available here.

The main significance of the thesis is that it argues that the impact of Pouvourville on Guénon was comparable to the impact that Ivan Aguéli had, an impact that, as I argued in "The significance of Ivan Aguéli for the Traditionalist movement" (see here), is greater than generally realized. Likewise, the impact of Pouvourville was greater than has been realized.

The thesis consists of an introduction, eight chapters arranged in three sections, and a conclusion. The chapters are

Part I: Framework
1. Occultism, Traditionalism and the Crisis of Authenticity 
2. Orientalisms

Part II: De Pouvourville, Guénon and the Birth of Traditionalism
3. Albert de Pouvourville’s Colonial Occultism
4. De Pouvourville Meets Guénon
5. De Pouvourville’s Influence on Traditionalism
6. Making Masters and Losing Friends

Part II: Two Shades of Esoteric China
7. De Pouvourville’s Tradition orientale
8. Traditionalist China

The central argument is that "the orientalist interpretation of China proposed by the occultist Albert de Pouvourville become the metaphysical core of René Guénon’s esoteric movement (Traditionalism)," While Aguéli contributed the Sufi pair of bāṭin and ẓāhir to Traditionalism's pair esoteric and exoteric, and Aguéli's binary of traditional Sufism and modern reformism to Guénon's binary of tradition and modernity, Pouvourville's contribution was even prior to that, as Marino argues in chapter 5: "From fundamental elements of Traditionalism like intellectualism and the theory of 'multiple states of Being' to secondary aspects like a distaste for Buddhism and contempt for 'sentimentality,' de Pouvourville’s teachings can be found all across Guénon’s work."