Customer Reviews

Encyclopedia of Taoism (2 Volume Set)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I did not have the same problem as the other reviewer. The item information clearly says "2 Volume Set" on this page, and when it arrived today, it came as two shrink-wrapped volumes.

The entries are lucid and authoritative, written by some of the best scholars in Taoist studies today, but I find that occasionally the contributors are unaware of developments outside their field. The entry on Guangcheng zi, for example, should have discussed the Warring-States manuscript "Rongcheng zi" (now housed in the Shanghai Museum) and its possible relevance.

This is a fantastic resource of information about Taoism. It is by far the most complete overview of the texts of Taoist canon I found and the unique contribution to the field.

It has been a pleasure and a true mystical experience to browse through the notes from many great Tao practitioners during thousands of years. Even though there are no full original texts, only brief excerpts and translator comments, this book book still offers a beautiful high-level picture. I am deeply grateful to the authors for making this possible.

This encyclopedia helped me a lot to put my long time study of the translated and original Taoist works into the perspective and to cross-search for the sources of some difficult to find terms. Kindle edition of the book I got has some serious technical problems (e.g. a number of Chinese characters fully missing, automated flow reformatting makes some fragments of text very difficult to read etc.), but the search option and the material is just so invaluable, that I couldn't make myself to return the purchase.

I would really, really, really appreciate if Amazon upgrades Kindle software to support standard Unicode and PDF, as practically any other reader device does. However, these ebook glitches have very little to do with the monumental work of the series of authors, that put together this amazing resource. I am sure this encyclopedia will provide a great assistance to any serious scholar of practitioner of Taoism in many years to come.

This mammoth two volume work is exactly what it says it is - an encyclopedia of Taoism. This is especially valuable because the Taoist Canon is still unavailable in English. Where texts are available, they can be hard to understand for anyone lacking a background in Taoist thought. As such, a reference work with an entry on almost everything I have searched for is of great value.

The contributors include most of the foremost names in Taoist scholarship, such as Livia Kohn, Catherine Despeux and Stephen Bokenkamp (but not Kristofer Schipper). I found that the entries that most interested me were often written by Monica Esposito.

This should not be the first book for anyone interested in Taoism, but for those who have read the Tao Te Ching, I Ching and Schipper's The Taoist Body, this is a good place to deepen your studies, even if like me you are a practitioner rather than a scholar.

BEWARE GETTING RIPPED OFF when you buy this title. I had to go thru enormous hassle and return this book. Amazon advertises it misleadingly. The book title on the webpage has no words about "vol. 1" or "2 vols." The picture supplied by a customer (it seems) shows a "Vol. One" but hell, that is just a picture of one of the books. It doesn't mean "You ain't gonna get volume two." For the approx. $250 price, one should be supplied BOTH VOLS., not just vol. 1, which I rec'd and which has only 700 pp. The publisher lists the exact same title, but declares it as a 2-vol. set. Amazon later told me that they do not carry a vol. 2. Without vol. 2, the title is worthless. Better to buy it for $300 from the publisher.