Reading the Dao

Wang Keping is a Research Fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Professor of Philosophy at Beijing International Studies University, China. His previous publications include The Classic of the Dao (Foreign Languages Press, 1998) and Ethos of Chinese Culture (Foreign Languages Press, 2007). He has also contributed articles to a number of edited collections, including Contemporary Chinese Philosophy edited by Chung-Ying Cheng and Nicholas Bunnin (Blackwell, 2002), The Challenges of Globalization edited by Steven Hicks and Daniel Shannon (Blackwell, 2007) and The Pursuit of Comparative Aesthetics edited by Mashar Hussain and Robert Wilkinson (Ashgate, 2006).

... a comprehensive overview of Laozi's Daoism for anyone unfamiliar with the DDJ and Daoism. It is clearly written, thematically formulated, and supplemented with helpful commentaries... [the English translation] is lucid and clear while following the poetic spirit of the original text, which makes the book delightful to read.

• 1. The Essence of the Dao \ 2. The Features of the Dao \ 3. The Movement of the Dao \ 4. The Dao and the Myriad Things \ 5. The Dao of Heaven and the Dao of Man \ 6. From the Dao into the De \ 7. The Qualities of the De \8. On Have-substance and Have-no-substance \ 9. On Take-action and Take-no-action \ 10. On Pleasure-Snobbery and Acquisitiveness \ 11. On the Hard and the Soft \ 12. On the Beautiful and the Ugly \ 13. On Beauty, Truth and Goodness \ 14. On Modesty and Retreat \ 15. On Knowledge and Wisdom \ 16. On Fortune and Misfortune \ 17. On Life and Death \ 18. On the Merits of Contentment \ 19. On the Possibilities of Achievement \ 20. On the Art of Leadership \ 21. On Warfare \ 22. On Peace \ 23. On Returning to Antiquity \ 24. On the Ideal Society \ 25. The Attitude Toward the Dao-De \ 26. The Experience of the Dao-De \ 27. The Attainment of Dao-De \ Bibliography \ Index.