Daoism (Taoism) is an ancient philosophy with origins in texts written in China more than 2,500 years ago. For perhaps just as many years, Daoism has also been practiced as a nontheistic religion, at times in secret when other philosophical/religious groups were in political and cultural favor. The key Daoist writings are characterized by many paradoxes, poetic language, and contradictory messages. Some writings ask many questions but do not provide answers, or they may answer with another question, which can be confusing to readers used to straightforward prose. In spite of its perplexing qualities, Daoism has been advocated and popularized throughout the millennia as holding truths about the pathway (dao) to take in life as well as the way (dao) to do things. Thousands of ...