The Book Of Lieh Tzu

-- Burton Watson

The Lieh-tzu is a collection of stories and philosophical musings of a sage of the same name who lived around the fourth century BCE. Lieh-tzu's teachings range from the origin and purpose of life, the Taoist view of reality, and the nature of enlightenment to the training of the body and mind, communication, and the importance of personal freedom. This distinctive translation presents Lieh-tzu as a friendly, intimate companion speaking directly to the reader in a contemporary voice about matters relevant to our everyday lives.

Presents a translation and commentary to the oldest known extant Taoist text, Inward Training (Nei-yeh), which is composed of short poetic verses devoted to the practice of breath meditation and its resultant insights about human nature and the cosmos. Roth argues that Inward Training is the basis of early Taoism, and suggests that there may be more continuity between early philosophical Taoism and later Taoist religion than scholars have thought.

'Lieh Tzu', nowadays more commonly referred to as Liezi, is a Taoist text attributed to Lie Yukou, a 5th century BC Hundred Schools of Thought philosopher. The Liezi is generally considered to be the most practical of the major Taoist works, compared to the poetic narrative of Laozi and the philosophical writings of Zhuangzi.

Lao Tzu was the father of Taoism. In his "Tao Te Ching," Lao Tzu outlined the basic concept of Tao. Chuang Tzu and Lieh Tzu were Lao Tzu's most important followers who expounded and expanded the basic principles set forth by Lao Tzu. Together, the sayings of these three sages, which make up this volume, are the foundations for the philosophy of Tao. The translations of the works of these ancient Chinese sages by Lionel Giles and Herbert Giles are very highly regarded and considered by many to be the definitive English translations. Lionel's translation of "The Sayings of Lao Tzu" (1905), taken from the "Tao Te Ching" and logically re-ordered, is remarkable for its clarity of expression, particularly given the complexity of the subject. Herbert's translation of "The Sayings of Chuang Tzu," presented here, with an introduction by Lionel, was originally published as "Musings of a Chinese Mystic" (1906). Lionel's translation of "The Sayings of Lieh Tzu" was originally published as "The Book of Lieh Tzu, or Teachings in Taoism" (1912). Individually the works of these Chinese sages are classics. Together, they are a master resource of the history of Tao.