Daoism: An Introduction

by Ronnie L. Littlejohn

"The way that can be told is not the eternal Way; the name that can be named is not the eternal Name." So begins the first verse of the mysterious Dao De Jing, foundation text of the ancient Chinese religion of Daoism. Often attributed to semi-mythical sage Laozi, the origins of this enigmatic document--which probably came into being in the third century BCE--are actually unknown. But the tenets of Daoism laid down in the Dao De Jing, and in later texts like the Yi Jing (or Book of Changes), continue to exert considerable fascination, particularly in the West, where in recent years they have been popularized by writers such as the novelist Ursula K LeGuin. In this fresh and engaging introduction to Daoism, Ronnie L. Littlejohn discusses the central facets of a tradition which can sometimes seem as elusive as the slippery notion of "Dao" itself. The author shows that fundamental to Daoism is the notion of "Wu-wei," or a paradoxical idea emphasising alignment of the self with the harmony of the universe, a universe in continual flux and change. This flux is expressed by the famous symbol of Dao, the "taiji" representing yin and yang eternally correlating in the form of a harmonious circle. Exploring the great subtleties of this ancient religion, Littlejohn traces its development and encounters with Buddhism, its expression in art and literature, its fight for survival during the Cultural Revolution, and its manifestations in modern-day China and beyond.

Genres: Religion, Taoism

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Silvio Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I realized if I was going to keep reading about the history of Daoism it would help a lot to have the basic historical outline down. This book was very good for that purpose. It doesn't assume any knowledge of Daoism, but it refers to political history without a lot of explanation, so you should know which dynasty is which to avoid confusion. It's a chronological view of Daoist beliefs and the institutions that have formed around them, starting with the Daodejing and continuing up to the present. I was surprised to find it ascribing the goal of becoming immortal as far back as the Zhuangzi; I didn't pick up on it there in my undergrad class on the Chinese philosophical tradition, but I suspect that was my fault. Immortality helps make sense of how alchemy related to the philosophical side of early Daoism - the common idea is transformation, without a whole lot of distinction between transformation of the mind, transformation of the body, and transformation of other substances. The intellectual development of Daoism as described in this book was gradual and complicated, but on an institutional level an important change was the appearance in the later Han dynasty of masters who passed down their teachings in linear succession, including the Celestial Masters lineage, which still exists now.