This is a new interpretation of Chinese Taoist philosophy from the view of anthropology. psychology, and social biology. The idle life of ancient egalitarian society is regarded as the Taoist ideal, and to bridge the gap between Taoist wisdom and the daily life of ordinary people in modern society, human nature, freedom, happiness, death/immortality are elucidated on six levels, namely, the biological, social, cultural, intellectual, spiritual, and cosmic levels. The introduction of the concepts, genetically coded primary and man-made secondary societies, basic human nature and peripheral potentials, and the unique angle from the spare time of self-enjoyment shed considerable new light on some common issues like the cultural difference between the East and the West. The author believes the world has now entered a new era after the Cold War ended, and we need a new way of life. The ancient wisdom of Chinese Taoist philosophy provides a good choice, since it emphasizes the value of naturalness and simplicity, which are well complementary to the Western philosophy of materialism. Furthermore, the modern world with a powerless United Nations as a platform for countries to work out their difference at various levels is pretty much like the political situation of China from 2200 to 476 BC when human nature was highly respected in politics and in life, and it eventually gave birth to Chinese Taoist philosophy. Early Taoist writers pursued a style of combining literary art with philosophical exploration to achieve a special humorous and relaxing effect. To follow those examples, the author tried to create an artistic mood in line with Taoism for reading.
For this book, though excellent as it is, a very limited number of copies were printed, and only a few copies have been sold locally. Its new approach to an old topic will always make a good buy to those who are interested.
This paper back book has 243 pages, 17 illustrations, 15 chapters with bibliography and a brief index.
The following is the Table of Contents from the book:
A Few Words About this Book to Guide the Reader
The Chinese Names >P> Chapter 1 The Pre-Understanding Phase in Human History
Chapter 2 The Essence of Taoist Philosophy
Chapter 3 The Primary and the Secondary Society
Chapter 4 The Founders of Taoist Philosophy: Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu
Chapter 5 Great Yu as a Branching Point in the Course of Chinese Cultural Evolution
Chapter 6 Spare Time and Social Pyramids
Chapter 7 The Multiple Level Operation of Our World
Chapter 8 Human Nature
Chapter 9 Death and Immortality
Chapter 10 The Taoist Concept of Freedom Chapter 11 Enjoym
ent and Happiness
Chapter 12 Life Cultivation
Chapter 13 Aesthetics
Chapter 14 The South and The North
Chapter 15 Social Implications
Key Terms
Chapter Summaries
Bibliography
Index
