(10th – October 2012)
Join Taoism expert, Tim Barrett who has been a Professor at SOAS for over 25 years, for a thought-provoking talk on the traditions and history of Taoism. Daoism, or in older transcriptions Taoism, is a religious tradition in China with very ancient roots that has for centuries enriched Chinese civilization. The Daode jing ascribed to Laozi is one of the most frequently translated books in world literature, and has had a profound influence in the West since Victorian times. More recently Daoist elements in the martial arts have also attracted attention. But the study of the vast corpus of surviving Daoist scriptures has mainly been a development of the post-war period. What do we now know about Daoism, and what are the prospects for the future?
