(1975 | 128 p)
Tao: The Watercourse Way, the final work by philosopher Alan Watts, was published posthumously in 1975. This is the first book I've read that was penned by Watts himself and I was so pleasantly surprised. The first chapter is devoted to Chinese ideograms, which made perfect sense to me. How better to understand such an abstract worldview as Taoism without also trying to understand a bit of the language in which it developed? And even without the intellectual reasons, the ideograms themselves are beautiful to see. They are the book's only illustrations.
Following the chapter on Chinese ideograms Watts covers four basic principles of Taoism: The Yin-Yang Polarity, Tao, Wu-wei, and Te. It's the most frank and light-hearted approach to the subject I've yet to run across. I read a borrowed copy, but this is definitely one I'd like to add to my personal collection and will probably re-read throughout the years.
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