Taoism: The Parting of the Way (Paperback)

~ Holmes Welch (Author)
Key Phrases: uncarved block, embryonic respiration, ten thousand creatures, Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, Chuang Tzu (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Called "a first rate piece of work" by T.S. Eliot, this book offers a comprehensive discussion of Taoism, one of the world's major religions, as well as a study of the Tao te ching, the best known Taoist text and Lao-tzu as a Taoist prototype. "Clarifies a large area of literature and history that has been a mystery to the West and makes fascinating reading even for those whose interest is casual." -The New Yorker

Product Details

• Paperback: 212 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press; Revised edition (June 1, 1971)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807059730
• ISBN-13: 978-0807059739
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #456,939 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A valuable introduction, September 9, 2005

By	Phil Myers (Brooklyn) - See all my reviews

That Holmes Welch set himself a formidable task in offering a brief general introduction to Taoism is testified to by the lack of any other serviceable attempts on the part of Western writers to codify the vague, mystical, and powerful formulations of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching.

Welch's short book contains 4 parts. In the first part, he explains that the ambiguous nature of the ancient Chinese characters, compounded by the oftent inscrutable and paradoxical writing style of Lao Tzu himself, makes definitive translation and interpretation of the text impossible.

In the second part, he offers his own informed and wise interpretation of the the Tao Te Ching, explicating three inter-related central concepts: (1)the doctrine of 'wu-wei' (spontaneity and non-interference in action), (2)the concept of 'pu' (original human nature (literally 'the uncarved block'), the way of the newborn child as an ideal counterposed to the adult corruption introduced by society), and (3)the mystical experience of the 'tao', or 'way' of the universe through meditation.

In the third part, Welch lays out the bizarre history of the development of Taoism since Lao Tzu, its intersections with other religions, and its devolution into arcane practices of asceticism, alchemy, hygiene, and geomancy.

In the final section, Welch offers a reading of the relevance of Lao Tzu's teachings to the present day (c. 1950s) that now seems pretty dated and hackneyed.

I recommend the first 2 parts as a valuable and illuminating companion text for anyone reading the Tao Te Ching.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good introduction, March 5, 1998

By A Customer

Welsh gives a good introduction to Taoism. He writes about what he thinks it meant, and what it developed into over the centuries. It gets a little scholarly at times but nothing too unbearable.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent intro to Taoism, September 10, 2006

By	P. Anderson "Paul Anderson" (Philadelphia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have not found any book that discusses philosophical taoism and the Tao Te Ching as effectively as Mr. Welche's book.

The section on the development of Taoism as a religion can be taken as a cautionary tale on how a philosophical system can be (and often is) changed beyond recognition (and ruined) by turning it something that will be accepted by the masses.

The last page of the section on the Tao Te Ching that describes why philosphical taoism didn't succeed as a religion because of its ambiguity, darkness and uncertainty hit the nail on the head! Philosophical Taoism doesn't offer easy answers--or immortality.

As for the previous reviewer who said this was the worst book he had ever read, I would love to see his reading list. That kind of extreme statement presents for me an mindset totally incapable of comprehending what Mr. Welch was presenting--especially in the first two sections.

Yes, the book was written in the 50's--nothing better has been written as an introduction to the subject since.