Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #213192 in Books
• Published on: 1990-10-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Review

"The Lieh-tzu ranks with the Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu as one of the most eloquent and influential expositions of Taois philosophy. This definitive translation by Professor Graham does full justice to the subtlety of thought and literary effectiveness of the text." -- Burton Watson

Review

"It is a gem of a work following on the Chuang Tzu, in a somewhat darker tone, yet punctuated with a most extraordinary humor. The modernity of this text... is astonishing....[A.C. Graham] is one of the most distinguished Sinologists working today." -- Irene Bloom, Columbia University

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Chinese

Customer Reviews

The Yellow Emperor Learns How to Dream
In The Book of Lieh-tzu - the third and least-known of the Taoist classics (with the Tao Te Ching and the book of Chuang-tzu) - dreaming is quite literally the royal road to knowledge of higher worlds, and the preferred path into the afterlife.

The most interesting material on dreams is a story of a dream journey by the Yellow Emperor and the collection of tales in the chapter titled "King Mu of Chou".

The Yellow Emperor found in a dream what he had been unable to find in meditation and ascetic practice - full access to a spiritual realm beyond the setting sun, whose inhabitants "ride space as though walking the solid earth". Winged by his knowledge, he reputedly "rose into the sky" at the end of his reign.

The story of King Mu is an interesting variant on the theme that "life is a dream". Holding on to the sleeve of a powerful magician, he travels to an amazing pleasure-palace above the clouds and enjoys himself there tremendously for "twenty or thirty years" before the magician invited him to go to a higher place, which he finds terrifying (because he is clearly not ready!). He is hurled back into his own palace to find only seconds of ordinary time have elapsed.

Instead of dismissing the dream journey as illusion, the author leads us to reflect that the dream world is no less real (or unreal) than the physical world and that for many of us the great game is to approach all experience as if it might be a dream - and have the malleability and magic of the dream world.

I Threw This Book Away
I seem to be in a minority here, but I disliked this book so much I didn't even finish it. It now resides at the bottom of my trash can.
Don't get me wrong, I'm somewhat of a "born-again Taoist." The Lao-Tzu saved my life, and between that and Thomas Merton's "The Way of Chuang-Tzu," my entire life philosophy and outlook has shifted radically.
The hard part is conveying the reasons for my distaste of this book. It may be because the only real redeeming parts are those directly copied from the Lao and Chuang Tzu. It may be because, after reading Merton's explaination of the "three in the morning" analogy, I cannot agree with A.C. Graham's translation, both in feeling and in words. Far, far too literal and intellectual. Taoism is, for me, about not trying to understand things, but rather letting them be.
If you are a scholar and writing papers or such, it might be good for you. For the spiritual seeker, if you need more Taoist thought, I would recommened reading different translations of the Lao-Tzu or Chuang-Tzu. It's really all you need.

An outstanding Taoist contribution
Graham has given us a very readable, enjoyable English version of a major Taoist work. Lieh Tzu followed Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu as the third major Toaist writer, at least as Western readers understand.

This can't be read wholly at face value, as Graham explains. Lieh often co-opted Confucius as a spokesman for Lieh's teachings, a standard technique when reference to the old sages was required. Graham gives plenty of notes showing where that happened, and how. Lieh also took over some of Chuang's teachings, but in Lieh's own way. That was a time when many competing schools fought against each other, but none could fight against the ancient sages or the dominant Confucians - it wasn't subterfuge, but accomodation of Lieh's views to his reading audience.

This is a readable, but often contradictory text. Graham starts each chapter with a bit of explanation. I do wish that he had more clearly set his commentary off from Lieh's text, though. Graham makes up for that lack of clarity by showing which parts of the text were most likely later accretions. For many reasons, these old Chinese texts are often the writing of many hands, not all of whom agreed with each other, and Graham helps us unwind which writing is which.

Through it all, Lieh's voice dominates. He is serene and practical. He often spins tales of immortals flying through clouds and living on dew, but more often describes ferrymen or shepherds. He preaches submission to The Way, but the book also describes a hedonsitic fatalsim - if destiny has already declared my future, then why should I not drink and be merry? This is where Graham's notes are most helpful, in sorting out which is the original text from and which parts were added by unknown authors.

If you have already read the Chuang Tzu, I strongly recommend Lieh. Lao Tzu was a poet, Chuang Tzu was a story-teller, but Lieh Tzu was very earth-bound and practical Graham has done a good job of making the work accessible, while giving the scholar room to study Lieh more deeply.

-- wiredweird