Complete Idiot's Guide to Taoism

I was expecting a complete wishy-washy new-agey mosaic of pseudo-science, pseudo-history, pseudo-scholarship; but actually the scholarship and historical information in this book were pretty darn good. It's a good introduction to ancient Chinese philosophy, the context of Zhuangzi and Laozi. The philosophy isn't watered down too much, and fortunately (thanks no doubt to Chad Hansen's contribution) it's not mixed in with unrelated stuff from the Upanishads or anything like that. There is a misprint on the back, "ying-yang" which must be slang for the padding surrounding one's gluteus maximus; inside the book the spelling is correct. The explanation of yin-yang is also correct and simple. I would've wanted a lot more information on religious Taoism: information about modern movements and so on. Which deities are most commonly worshipped in Taiwan, which in Hong Kong, which in Beijing? And, how are they worshipped? I'd like information about Taoist pilgrimages, Taoist sacred places, and so on. The book doesn't touch any of that: minus one star. Also, the bit on quantum physics could be greatly, greatly improved. Maybe they could've asked a few grad students at a physics dep't for commentary? It would have greatly helped: minus one star. However, I just couldn't give the book 3 stars; the chapters on politics and ecology were surprisingly good, the internet links are too helpful, and as I said earlier the explanation of ancient Chinese philosophy was too good. So, maybe there's a little grade inflation here. In sum, it's a good introduction to Taoism, and it'll prepare you to move on to deeper stuff, and help you find it. If, like, you're already a Taoist immortal or something, this book isn't for you, and you can't really criticize it for that. I'd expect you to realize that already.

I knew little about taoism, and while I feel that this book does a good job with introducing one to it, I realize now, after reading this book, that I still know little about taoism. I rated the book four stars because it served it's purpose well but falls short of a truly excellent book. It also seemed to be redundant in certain areas regarding tai chi, fung shuei, and Chinese medicine. Overally, I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a solid, comprehensive guide to taoism. Just realize that, as Lao Tsu says about the journey of a thousand miles, this book is only the first step!

This book was my introduction to Taoism, and I am deeply grateful to the authors for writing such a splendid guide to the Way. /The Complete Idiot's Guide to Taoism/ starts out by working through the difficulties of defining "Tao" and introducing the reader to the works of Lao-Tzu and Chuang-Tzu, the two sages of Taoism. The book moves on to offer an overview of key Taoist concepts like wu-wei, de, the yin-yang polarity, etc. All of this is done in a relaxed, enjoyable manner, making for a quick and fun read.This /Idiot's Guide/ also has chapters on Taoist thoughts on nature, skill, and life and death. These chapters illuminate the Taoist perspective on many aspects of life, and do so a lot more effectively than a list of dry, fixed "shall" and "shall not" items would be able to. The book also includes some thought-provoking overviews of the links between Taoism and Christianity, modern physics, popular culture (i.e. The Matrix), and so forth.This book is not page after page of dogmatic rules on how you should or should not think, or should or should not live. Anyone looking for such things will be disappointed with /The Complete Idiot's Guide to Taoism/, and indeed Taoism itself. The authors went to great lengths to provide a cohesive intro to the history of Taoism, as well as the core ideas that make it a viable philosophy (or religion) to this day. I think the main goal when writing this book was to get the reader to actively *think* about life, and how traditional Taoist perspectives match up with the experiences of daily life.If you're up to the challenge of genuinely thinking about Taoism, and how it can be applied to all aspects of the world, this book will definitely satisfy you. As the authors say in their introduction, "Think of /The Complete Idiot's Guide to Taoism/ as a flashlight; judge its effectiveness by what it helps you see more clearly as you make your own way along the path."

I knew a little about Taoism -- or thought I did -- but was surprised at how much I didn't know about Zhuangzi. An engaging and enlightening review of an important subject. Very informative.

What a great book! Toropov really helped me understand what Taoism is and how it fits in with many other Eastern traditions I've heard about. An excellent overview with real meat -- not just fluff.