Histoire du taoïsme

by Isabelle Robinet

Seule grande religion de la Chine, spécifiquement chinois, le taoïsme est le dépositaire et le témoin encore vivant d'un immense courant de la tradition chinoise qui a poursuivi son développement parallèlement à la culture officielle. Encore mal connu, c'est une des grandes religions du monde qui a, comme toutes, sa liturgie, son église et ses mystiques, mais qui possède deux caractéristiques particulières. Il est marqué par une forte composante cosmologique, et, exempt de tout dogmatisme, il a continuellement accueilli dans son sein des courants nouveaux et extérieurs qu'il a parfaitement assimilés sans jamais perdre sa spécificité.

274 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.