In the Shadows of the Dao: Laozi, the Sage, and the Daodejing

Challenges standard views of the origins of the Daodejing, revealing the work's roots in a tradition of physical cultivation.

Thomas Michael's study of the early history of the Daodejing reveals that the work is grounded in a unique tradition of early Daoism, one unrelated to other early Chinese schools of thought and practice. The text is associated with a tradition of hermits committed to yangsheng, a particular practice of physical cultivation involving techniques of breath circulation in...