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Rating: 
Summary: Taoism? I think not...
Review: Taoism started off as a way of life that was free, scientific, logic and full of Te. However, it was designed for the educated, and enlightened leader sage...not the average man. The Treatise on response & retribution is designed as a religious doctorine to give the average man an instructed guide on how to go about in society...without going corrupt. It sounds very much like the Bible in some places.The book is divided into two parts: 1)The actual treatise and 2)Moral stories about how people are punished and rewarded for good and bad doings...already they have obscured the tao when they have identified the good & bad. There is no mention about ruling, leadership, openminded philosophy, calming the mind thru meditation, harmonizing the body and its energies, or anything that taoism preaches. It seams to me like this treatise is 60% Confucian, 20% Buddhist, 15% misc, and 5% Taoist. In fact the text constantly mentions Buddhist gods and patron saints of China...however without mentioning the ancients (Taoist masters and the lot). It does however give the reader a nice understanding of Chinese culture and what it values the most. However, rituals, religion and societal norms are what obscure the tao (as mention in the Chuang Tzu and Lieh Tzu)...where is the Te?
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