Published In
Religion East and West
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-1-2009
Subjects
Confucianism, Taoism, Cabala
Abstract
This paper discusses similarities of both form and meaning between two symbolic structures: the Diagram of the Supreme Pole of Song Neo-Confucianism and the Kabbalistic Tree of medieval Jewish mysticism. These similarities are remarkable in the light of the many differences that exist between Chinese and Judaic thought, which also manifest in the two symbols. Intercultural influence might account for the similarities, but there is no historical evidence for such influence. An alternative explanation would attribute the similarities to the ubiquitousness of religious-philosophical ideas about hierarchy, polarity, and macrocosm-microcosm parallelism, but this does not adequately account for the similar overall structure of the symbols. The question of how to understand these similarities remains open.
Keywords: Diagram of the Supreme Pole, Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate, Neo-Confucianism, Daoism, Kabbalistic Tree, Kabbalah, symbolism, isomorphism
Rights
© The Author; permission to reprint and distribute was received from the publisher.
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/42751
Citation Details
Zwick, M. (2009) " The Diagram of the Supreme Pole and the Kabbalistic Tree: On the Similarity of Two Symbolic Structures." Religion East & West, the Journal of the Institute for World Religions, Issue #9, October 2009, pp. 67-87.