Introduction When people first study Chinese philosophy, they may expect Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism to function as three competing religions, each asking followers to choose one system over the others. Chinese history presents a more complicated picture. For much of China’s history, these three traditions developed alongside one another, sometimes cooperating, sometimes borrowing ideas and […]
Introduction When people first start reading about Chinese philosophy, they often encounter both “Taoism” and “Daoism” — sometimes in the very same article — and reasonably wonder whether these refer to two different traditions, two different schools of thought, or simply a spelling inconsistency. The confusion is understandable. The explanation, however, has little to do […]
Introduction When people first ask how Taoism began, they often expect a simple answer — a founder, a date, and perhaps a single moment when the religion came into existence. The traditional story is much more subtle. It begins with an elderly scholar, an aging court official, a journey toward the western frontier, and a […]
