Histoire du taoisme: Des origines au XIVe siècle

by Isabelle Robinet

Regroupant aujourd’hui plus de vingt millions de disciples, le taoïsme est le dépositaire et le témoin vivant d'un immense courant de la pensée chinoise. Cette histoire explore toutes les facettes de cette « religion » encore mal connue, de la mystique à l’éthique, de la médecine chinoise au développement personnel en passant par l’influence sur l’art et la calligraphie. Centrée sur l’individu et associant le corps et l’esprit, le taoïsme se démarque des religions par l’absence de tout dogmatisme. Une spiritualité créatrice de lien social, marquée par une forte composante cosmologique. Pensée ouverte, le taoïsme a toujours accueilli dans son sein des courants nouveaux et extérieurs qu'il a parfaitement assimilés, sans jamais perdre sa spécificité.L’étude incontournable sur une religion en plein essor.

269 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is without a doubt the best book on the history of Taoism. I have read the English translation twice. Once when I started to become interested in Chinese history and once when I was doing my MA at SOAS. I reviewed the book twice when I read it then. In my last review I said that I hoped one day my French would be good enough to read it in the original. So when I found a cheap copy of it when we were on holiday in Paris in August I decided I should try it. I must admit that I don't think I understood it was well reading it in French but I did manage to understand most of it, which made me really happy.

The book gives an excellent historical introduction to the history of Taoism, from its earliest origins to the development of the religion in the Han. It outlines the different developments within Taoism and the different schools that it produced during the period of disunion and the Tang and the Song. It also gives an introduction to the internal alchemy practices. Unlike a lot of European and American books about Taoism that separate it out into "philosophical Taoism" and "religious Taoism" this was one of the first to show the tradition as a whole. If anyone wants to learn more about this fascinating religion I would highly recommend this book, either the French or English translation.