Dao Companion to Daoist Philosophy

Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy #6

by Xiaogan Liu (Editor)

This is the first comprehensive companion to the study of Daoism as a philosophical tradition. It provides a general overview of Daoist philosophy in various thinkers and texts from 6th century BCE to 5th century CE and reflects the latest academic developments in the field. It discusses theoretical and philosophical issues based on rigorous textual and historical investigations and examinations, reflecting both the ancient scholarship and modern approaches and methodologies. The themes include debates on the origin of the Daoism, the authorship and dating of the Laozi , the authorship and classification of chapters in the Zhuangzi ,  the themes and philosophical arguments in the Laozi and Zhuangzi , their transformations and developments in Pre-Qin, Han, and Wei-Jin periods, by Huang-Lao school, Heguanzi, Wenzi, Huainanzi, Wang Bi, Guo Xiang, and Worthies in bamboo grove, among others. Each chapter is written by expert(s) and specialist(s) on the topic discussed.

Genres: China, Philosophy

576 pages, Hardcover

First published September 29, 2011

Reviews

[Eggtown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever since I first read the Daodejing or Laozi in my youth I have been fascinated by the mystical knowledge therein, as I believe many have – a multifaceted philosophical and poetical work that literally transcends time with its ever inspirational content.

When I discovered this scholarly work devoted to Daoist Philosophy I just knew I had to read it to finally “flesh out” all these questions I had.

What is Dao? How do we translate it? Way, path, field, God, The Force, This is the Way…? – Dao is the conceptual core of Daoism.

The Dao that can be told of is not the eternal Dao;
The name that can be named is not the eternal name. (WTF?)

Chinese philosophy is a complicated matter, especially when viewed or skewed through a Westernized lens something the first chapter gives us a thorough introduction to. In the end of the introduction we get a great overview of the 5 parts in this book, its 24 chapters and trajectory to launch us through the most important works of Daoism, the historical context, and figures associated with it.

Part I (Ch. 2-5) concerns the Laozi/Daodejing (551–479 BC) – first it discusses older scholarship and issues then the latest research: dating, historical context, linguistic analysis, central concepts and theories etc. in addition to introducing the most recently excavated bamboo-slip texts. I loved it!

Part II (Ch. 6-9) deals with the wonderful Zhuangzi – textual issues, Zhuangzian philosophy based on the first 7 chapters which is the oldest core of the work (called the Inner Chapters), and classifications and relations of the Outer and Miscellaneous chapters.

Part III (Ch. 10-15) focuses on the Huang-Lao Tradition: the works and doctrines that grew out of Laozi and Zhuangzi and became the Daoist mainstream in the early Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD). Daoism gets infused with an array of different ideas mainly from Legalism and Confucianism giving it an syncretic nature. It takes on a more social and political role here.

In one of the works from the Huang-Lao Tradition named Guanzi consists of collections of distinct texts (Ch. 11). The author of that chapter discusses an earlier part, called Neiye (Inward Training), has been incorporated into the work, saying that these passages are even older than the Laozi. It was an intriguing read even though the author didn’t have space to elaborate on this claim.

Part IV (Ch. 16-19) takes us to the Wei-Jin era (220-420 AD) and exposes us to a couple of philosophers (WANG Bi, GUO Xiang) and their development on Daoist thought by constructing a more systematic approach by annotations on the ancient texts.

Part V (Ch. 20-24) concludes with five quite narrow comparative studies between Daoism and various perspectives: Confucianism, Buddhism, Greek Philosophy, Science, and also how Daoist religion developed from Daoist philosophy.


Part I and II were in my mind the most interesting where we get the origin of Daoism with Laozi and Zhuangzi. Really getting down to the gritty details was a joyful read.

I'm just a novice when it comes to Chinese philosophy, Daoism and its history so this work helped me a great deal to get a firmer grip on the vast landscape. However, I really missed having a chronological table and a map – it would have been nice to have a rough guide like that. As it is a scholarly work, I can only recommend it to people already in the field or laypeople like myself with a confusingly deep fascination of Laozi and Zhuangzi.

What is Dao? How do we translate it? Is really the wrong question. Because we have to be more flexible…

In chapter 3, briefly in the end, mention the term dao is used in the Daodejing in three key senses: (1) a cosmic reality, (2) a personal reality, and (3) a way of life – and we get an analogy of dao to a field – this image of a field can help us bridge the different senses of the word.

“The Dao that can put into words is not the real Dao, and the name that can assign reference to things is not a real name.”

Sounds like we have to withdraw from every approach and retreat to itself, and in the end we have to keep silent.