The Book of Lieh-Tzu: A Classic of the Tao (Translations from the Oriental Classics) [Paperback]

A. C. Graham tells us, in his informative Introduction to the present book, that Taoism, which attained maturity in the 3rd century B.C., is "the greatest philosophical tradition of China after Confucianism." Modern scholars are inclined to think that its three key texts were composed in the following order : 1. the Chuang-tzu; 2. the Tao Te Ching (or the Lao-tzu); 3. the Lieh-tzu. The latter, which is the least well-known in the West, is "a collection of stories, sayings and brief essays grouped in eight chapters, each loosely organized around a single theme" (p.1) :

1. Heaven's Gifts (reconciliation with death); 2. The Yellow Emperor (the Taoist principle of action); 3. King Mu of Chou (the idea that life is a dream); 4. Confucius (the futility of the Confucian faith in knowledge); 5. The Questions of T'ang (the universe is infinite in space and time); 6. Endeavour and Destiny; 7. Yang Chu (a chapter on Hedonism "so unlike the rest ... that it must be the work of another hand"); 8. Explaining Conjunctions (the effect of chance conjunctions of events).

Just why the Lieh-tzu isn't so well known I don't know, since it can at times be every bit as sublime as the Lao-tzu, and every bit as joyous and funny as the Chuang-tzu, while the true spirit of Tao is present throughout (except perhaps in the spurious seventh chapter). Since it's also, in some ways, a more approachable text, it would make a good entry point for newcomers to philosophical Taoism.

Graham is one of the West's greatest sinologists and his translation reads very well indeed. I often get the feeling from Graham, however, that he is prevented from fully appreciating the sublimity and what to me is the self-evident truth of philosophical Taoism because he remains trapped in a Western mindset that blinds him to these.

On the one hand he is prepared to concede that "Taoism coincides with the scientific world-view at just those points where the latter most disturbs Westerners rooted in the Christian tradition - the littleness of man in a vast universe; the inhuman Tao which all things follow, without purpose and indifferent to human [desires]; the transience of life; the impossibility of knowing what comes after death; unending change in which the possibility of progress is not even conceived; the relativity of values; [etc.]" (p,13).

On the other hand Graham tells us that : "The Taoist ... cannot be a 'philosopher' in the Western sense, establishing his case by rational argument; he can only guide us in the direction of the Way by aphorisms, poetry, and parable. The talents he needs are those of an artist and not of a thinker" (p.11).

What Graham fails to note is that NO philosopher has ever "established his case by rational argument" because, as is proved every day, rational argument leads only to further rational argument and can never lead to truth. The Taoist would see Graham's "rational argument" as a futile and _excessive_ use of reason, in contrast to his more _reasonable_ use of reason, but to suggest, as Graham does, that because of this the Taoist is not a real "thinker" seems simply a piece of Western ethnocentrism, though Graham's blind spot prevents him from realizing this.

Graham's Introduction, apart from misleading the reader on this essential point, is a fine piece of writing, and his translation is up to his usual high standards. Those who are new to Taoism will probably find it far easier to read and considerably more illuminating than much of what passes for 'philosophy' in the modern world, while those who already know their Chuang-tzu and Lao-tzu will no doubt find it quite enjoyable too. As the third important classic of philosophical Taoism, it becomes a valuable text we would be unwise to overlook.