Het boek Liezi hoort thuis in de traditie van het taoïsme, waar het schouder aan schouder staat met de twee andere grote klassieke werken: Laozi's Daodejing en de geschriften van Zhuangzi, die in 2007 door Kristofer Schipper voor Augustus werden vertaald. Traditioneel werd Liezi 'Meester Lie' toegeschreven aan de kluizenaar Lie Yukou, die rond 400 v. Chr. zou hebben geleefd. De geschriften van Liezi, die terecht worden beschouwd als de meest praktisch georiënteerde onder de drie taoïstisch...

Fundamental para a compreensão do pensamento oriental, Vazio Perfeito é uma obra basilar do taoismo. Traz histórias filosóficas e poéticas carregadas de ambiguidade, humor e ironia.Liezi aborda a plenitude do vazio, a viagem interior, o autodomínio e a autossuficiência, a complementaridade da vida e da morte, a meditação no silêncio, a inconstância dos eventos da vida, o desapego ao mundano, a morte e a felicidade em nossa existência e outros tópicos centrais do Dao....

At the Court of Liang at the period of Yang Chu, about 300 B.C., the philosophers were treated as guests of the reigning king, who reserved for them lodging and maintenance, and encouraged all who had any pretence to the pursuit of truth and wisdom. Whether or not Yang Chu was actually a native of the Wei State, or whether he came there drawn by the attraction of a critical and unrivalled audience, it is at least certain that he settled there as small proprietor, probably in the reign of K...

Although Lieh Tzu's work has evidently passed through the hands of many editors and gathered numerous accretions, there remains a considerable nucleus which in all probability was committed to writing by Lieh Tzu's immediate disciples, and is therefore older than the genuine parts of Chuang Tzu. There are some obvious analogies between the two authors, and indeed a certain amount of matter common to both; but on the whole Lieh Tzu's book bears an unmistakable impress of its own. The genial...

This book comprises five classic works of Chinese mysticism. Culturally, these are the companion works to Confucius’ thoughts, as expanded by Mencius. Confucianism is very much the Apollonian side of Chinese culture. It focuses on matters of ethics, hierarchy, responsibility, and social obligation. Daoism is the other side of the coin, focused on abstraction and uncertainty.The two translators included in this volume were very different men. While they wrote in the same period, the...