ABSTRACT

Early Daoist philosophy has had an incalculable influence on the development of Chinese philosophy and culture. Philosophical Daoism is often called ‘Lao-Zhuang’ philosophy, referring directly to the two central and most influential texts, the Daodejing (or Laozi) and the Zhuangzi, both of which were composite, probably compiled in the fourth and third centuries bc. Beyond these two texts we might include the syncretic Huainanzi (c.140 bc) and the Liezi, reconstituted around the fourth century ad, as part of the traditional Daoist corpus.