On: “Daoism and Chinese Culture”

A short bit of reflection on this book by Livia Kohn follows below.

Read: 8/2019*
Topics: Daoism, Daoist history, Daoist philosophy
Recommend? Yes
For: Those studying/exploring Daoist history

(Review from 2019) I chose this book from a curriculum list based solely on the intriguing quotes from the author that were in A Daoist Practice Journal: Come Laugh With Me (Michael Rinaldini). I found those quotes to be of great interest, and thought I would enjoy the tone of her writing. I was not disappointed!

I deeply appreciated even the very basic, initial information about Laozi and the Daodejing. This filled in many gaps for me as to the beginnings of Daoist philosophy. Without his helpful history, my understanding of it was solely from any number of different translators, many whom gave only a few historical details at best. Also, learning about the other philosophical schools from that time period was fascinating. The section on ‘Dao and Non-action’ was one in which I did a lot of highlighting.

The history of The Zhuangzhi was very interesting, particularly the four distinct strands of Daoist thought. After reading about these four, it helped me connect with the viewpoint of a current Daoist author’s perspective. A book I read months ago expressed a Daoist philosophy which struck me as heavily weighted towards hedonism, and I remember being a little confused. Kohn’s writing about this strand in early Daoist thought bridged the gap in perspective for me!