Taoist Teachings

Noted scholar and translator Lionel Tyler Giles offers his history and analysis of Taoism, an Eastern tradition which is variously termed philosophical and religious.

The author’s principal source is the founding text of Taoist thought; the Book of the Way – or Tao te Ching - by Lao Tzu. Though the book is considered of enormous importance to formalizing Taoism as a belief system, Giles finds that the moral tenets that comprise Taoist thought predate the birth of Lao Tzu by centuries. The possibility that Lao Tzu simply organized and discussed traits associated with the Tao is put to the reader, while common pitfalls for Westerners – for example, assuming that the Taoist ‘Supreme Being’ corresponds with the Christian God – are identified.

Giles’ enquiry serves as an introduction to a belief system which remains misunderstood even in the modern day. Determined to place Taoism in a wider context of Eastern wisdom, he examines the significance which Confucius held, alongside philosophical discussions of causality and destiny. Rather than being a separate entity, Taoism is demonstrated as being at the heart of ancient Eastern philosophy, with anecdotes and lessons deeply rooted in Chinese society of antiquity.