Early Han Daoism Analysis

Started by Sima Tan and completed by his son Sima Qian, the Records of the Grand Historian contains a seminal essay on early Chinese thought and a brief assessment of each of six early philosophical traditions. It provides the picture of how the major early Han intellectual traditional conceived of itself. The essay also clearly demonstrates that early Han Daoism was thoroughly syncretic in nature and adopted elements from other philosophies. In Sima Tan’s “On the Six Lineages of Thought,” it assesses the strengths and flaws of Naturalists, Confucians, Mohists, Terminologists, Legalists, and Daoist by explaining how certain philosophies such as Mohism can be frugal and difficult to follow yet no one can disregard the way they strengthen the