33. Let Us Count the Ways: What is Daoism?

Posted on 29 June 2025

What does “Daoism” refer to in a range of contexts, and how have excavated texts changed our understanding of the tensions between Daoism and Confucianism?

Themes:

Ethics

Historical Context

Political Philosophy

Translations and Textual Transmission

Further Reading

• W.T. Chan (trans.). The Way of Lao Tzu (Tao-te ching). (Englewood Cliffs: 1963).

• T. Cheng, Z. Lu, W. Nienhauser, and R. Reynolds (trans.), “Sima Qian: Lao Tzu and Han Fei, Memoir 3,” in W. Nienhauser (ed.) The Grand Scribe’s Records. Volume VII, The Memoirs of Pre-Han China (Bloomington: 1994), 21-32.

• S. Cook, The Bamboo Texts of Guodian: a Study and Complete Translation, 2 volumes, (Ithaca: 2012).

• P. D’Ambrosio and X. Ouyang (eds), The Critical Annotated Laozi: With Contemporary Explication and Traditional Commentary (Leiden: 2020).

• R. Henricks (trans.) Lao-Tzu Te-Tao Jing: A New Translation Based on the Recently Discovered Ma-Wang-Tui Texts (New York: 1989).

• R. Henricks (trans.). Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching: A Translation of the Startling New Documents Found at Guodian (New York: 2000).

• H. van Ess (trans.), “Sima Qian: Sequence of his Honor, the Grand Scribe’s Own [History], Memoir 70,” in W. Nienhauser (ed.) The Grand Scribe’s Records. Volume XI, The Memoirs of Han China (Bloomington: 2019), 311-69.

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• T.H. Barrett, “Lieh tzu 列子,” in M. Loewe (ed.), Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide (Berkeley: 1993), 298-308.

• A. Chan and Y.K. Lo (eds), Philosophy and Religion in Early Medieval China (Albany: 2010).

• L.K. Chen and H.C.W. Sung, “The Doctrines and Transformation of the Huang-Lao Tradition,” in X. Liu (ed.), Dao Companion to Daoist Philosophy (Dordrecht: 2015), 241-264.

• R. Kirkland, Taoism: The Enduring Tradition (New York: 2004).

• L. Kohn, Daoism Handbook (Leiden: 2000).

• Liu An, The Huainanzi: a Guide to the Theory and Practice of Government in Early Han China, trans. and ed. J. Major, S. Queen, A.S. Meyer, H. Roth (New York: 2010)

• X. Liu (ed.), Dao Companion to Daoist Philosophy (Dordrecht: 2015).

• I. Robinet, Taoism: Growth of a Religion, trans. P. Brooks (Stanford: 1997).

• H. Roth, Original Tao: Inward Training (Nei-yeh) and the Foundations of Taoist Mysticism (New York: 1999).

• N. Sivin, “On the Word ‘Taoist’ as a Source of Perplexity: with Special Reference to the Relations of Science and Religion in Traditional China,” History of Religions 17 (1978), 303–30.

• K. Smith, “Sima Tan and the Invention of Daoism, ‘Legalism,’ et cetera,” Journal of Asian Studies 62 (2003), 129–56.