Customer Reviews

Taoism: The Enduring Tradition

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I have been trying for awhile to find accurate treatments of Taoism from actual scholars (not hacks who know nothing of Chinese history, religion, culture, or language - but have no problem filling the shelves at Barnes and Noble with fatuous fluff). This is an excellent book that not only covers the origins and development of Taoism from the perspective of the "Taoists" themselves (not from the perspective of Westerners who received most of their knowledge from often adversarial Confucians), but it even has an excellent section on "Cultivating the Tao" for those who are interested in putting Taoist traditions into practice.

Great exerpt:

"In the 20th Century West, Taoist practice was deeply misunderstood my narcissistic pseudo-Taoists, who falsely imagined that 'following the Tao' requires no more than 'going with the flow' or 'just being spontaneous.' To the contrary, Taoist practice traditionally rested upon self-discipline as 'the foundation that sets up the basic framework of mind and body in which alone the hard work of the path can be accomplished." (p. 202)

Check the references for other excellent sources on Taoism.

(Please remember that this is an academic source, so don't think you are going to read the "Tao of Poo" and then give the book a bad review when you see the big words. If you want something dumbed down, look elsewhere.)

I bought this book because it had great reviews and it's hard to find good material on the practices and texts of Taoism beyond the level of Tao of Pooh and Taoism for Dummies. But upon reading this torture of a text I found the other reviewers must have had different interests than mine, for what I've found in the book is a state-of-the-union address on Taoist scholarship (mainly how 19th and 20th century translators have not taken into consideration this or that text or aspect of Chinese history) but as to a rigorous explanation of the different practices and beliefs of Taoists there is not much to go on in this book. The author seems more interested in showing off his scholarship of Chinese thought and presenting what Taoism IS NOT than of telling us what those texts he so profusely cites say about what Taoism IS.

In modern world only few learners of Taoism are blessed with a real teacher. The rest of us have to get by books, articles and similar sources. Unfortunately we quickly learn that there is a huge, stinky sewage of books by "experts" among which we are to seek for rare pearls.

This book is not only one of such pearls, it also teaches to deal with the sewage, to distinguish real scholarship from New Age "interpretations".

Yes, it is not an easy read because it is written more like research article, but if you are interested in essence of Taoist beliefs and philosophy this book absolutely worth the time you'll spend to read it.

But if you really believe that LeGuin is a Taoist then do not bother with this book.

Prof Kirkland wrote this highly readable research work on Taoism. He traced the history of this tradition in the ancient land how it influenced to and impacted by Confucianism and Buddhism. He offered a fresh perspective, quite different from the Western orthodox viewpoint

Without missionary selling and promoting, Taoism offered more than philosophy in the land of Western Civilization - wealth but in discontentment, strong but insecure. As a Taoist, Prof Kirkland gave this book to the general public on the understanding of the mystery of Tao in the way to spiritual happiness and freedom.

not an easy book to read. written by a highly educated person,who can't help but use big complicated words. Not a knock on highly educated people.