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sagethesolarthief's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
3.75
great overview of the history and concepts of daoism.
davissandefur's review against another edition
5.0
Kohn has crafted an amazing introduction to Daoism in this book. She details everything you need to know to get started understanding this tradition, tracing its history chronologically through the various different schools, focusing on their practices and beliefs. She details the creation of the Daozang, or the Daoist "canon", as well as its division, something lacking in other texts. Furthermore, she discusses the influence of Buddhism on the religion as well, and touches on the parts of Daoism that come from traditional Chinese correlative cosmology, such as yin and yang, as well as the five phases.
What sets Kohn's book apart, however, is the plethora of further reading she gives. At the end of every chapter, there are at least five more books specifically dedicated to the topics covered in that chapter. This gives the interested reader more resources to delve deeper into the religion. She also has a chapter on the state of Daoist studies, which lists a history of the topic and gives some more recent influential books the reader might be interested in.
What sets Kohn's book apart, however, is the plethora of further reading she gives. At the end of every chapter, there are at least five more books specifically dedicated to the topics covered in that chapter. This gives the interested reader more resources to delve deeper into the religion. She also has a chapter on the state of Daoist studies, which lists a history of the topic and gives some more recent influential books the reader might be interested in.
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