The Penumbra Unbound: The Neo-Taoist Philosophy of Guo Xiang (Suny Series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture)

Rating:
Summary: Hoping for something different
Review: Guo Xiang is a little-known and relatively late Taoist writer. He followed a common usage in rigidly decorous Confucian society. Phrasing anything as a new idea would have been an unforgivable snub to the classic masters, but commentaries on the classics honored them properly. This book is phrased as a commentary on the Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu), but the commentary really says more about Guo's thinking than about Zhuangzi's.

Unlike earlier Taoist authors, Guo was firmly a part of a strict, hierarchical, Confucian society. That gives much of his writing an odd cast. Earlier Taoists seemed quite egalitarian, rating the high or low according to their wisdom in The Way. Guo, among other things, reinforces the status quo by saying it is The Way for some to have much and others to have little - it would be improper to take from the former or to give to the latter. Social rank seems like a force of nature, on a par with gravity.

Guo said lots more, too, but I found it hard to get Guo's words from this book. This is overwhelmingly a philosophical commentary on the text of Guo, not a presentation of that text. As a result, Guo's own words are taken selectively, with little concern for their original order or context. That selectivity supported the modern commmentator's theses well. It will disappoint readers who, like me, mostly want a translation of the original text. The commentary seems well done, but just isn't what I was after.

I'm reviewing this as an amateur enthusiast of Asian classics, not as a serious sinologist or philosopher. I expect other reviewers, with other purposes and expectations, to rate this book very differently.

//wiredweird