The Dao Is Open website is devoted to the cultivation of Dao (Tao) and De (Te), as exemplified in the works of Laozi (Lao Tzu) and Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu).


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HISTORY OF CHINESE PHILOSOPHY

Book List
    Laozi
    Zhuangzi
    Wenzi and Liezi
    Misc. Ancient Texts
    Yi Jing
    Misc. Daoist Texts
    Daoist Stories
    History
    Chinese Characters
    Confucius
    Buddhism, Zen, Yoga, etc.

The history of Chinese philosophy can be interesting, and can also lead to a greater understanding of Daoism and how the various ideologies developed and related to each other.

I have to say that when I first started reading about the different philosophies in ancinet China it was frustrating and a little depressing. I had always looked at Daoism as a free-flowing philosophy, and when I read about what was going on in China at the time the Dao De Jing was written, I came to think that the Dao De Jing was just another "manual for ruling a country."

However, I believe that Laozi's thoughts went much deeper than that. Although the historians tend to dump all of the philosophies of ancient China into a generic barrel and attempt to define Laozi by the thoughts of others who lived at approximately the same time in history, I still think Laozi was way ahead of the others.

Reading about the history of Chinese philosophy can be informative if viewed from an independent mind.

A Sourcebook in Chinese Philosophy, Wing-Tsit Chan
This massive book cover the entire development of Chinese philosophy from pre-Confucianism to modern times.

A History of Chinese Philosophy - Volume 1 (The period of the Philosophers [from the beginnings to circa 100 B.C.]), Fung Yu-lan
Volume 1 of Yu-lan’s treatise deals with the time period in ancinet China in which Daoism was first conceived by Laozi and Zhuangzi.

A Short History of Chinese Philosophy (A Systematic Account of Chinese Thought From its Origins to the Present Day), Fung Yu-lan
This book is an abridgement of Yu-Lan’s entire treatise included in A History of Chinese Philosophy Volume 1 and Volume 2.

Records of the Grand Historian (Qin Dynasty), Sima Qian
This book doesn’t include much about Chinese philosophy, but it gives a historical record of the names of the rulers and the dates of their reign in the Qin Dynasty.

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