Challenges standard views of the origins of the
Daodejing
, revealing the work's roots in a tradition of physical cultivation.
Thomas Michael's study of the early history of the
reveals that the work is grounded in a unique tradition of early Daoism, one unrelated to other early Chinese schools of thought and practice. The text is associated with a tradition of hermits committed to
yangsheng
, a particular practice of physical cultivation involving techniques of breath circulation in combination with specific bodily movements leading to a physical union with the Dao. Michael explores the ways in which the text systematically anchored these techniques to a Dao-centered worldview. Including a new translation of the
,
In the Shadows of the Dao
opens new approaches to understanding the early history of one of the world's great religious texts and great religious traditions.