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The Wandering Taoist
Portrays the life of the Chinese mystic, Saihung Kwan, and depicts his pursuit of the spiritual goals of the religion of Taoism
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 2, 2007
THIS, is fantastic book high on the conscious and totally sweet on the action packed-o-meter. A true mystical kung-fu story chock-full of history, culture and imagery. Cool characters too!
September 26, 2012
Such a wild and crazy life some people lead. Kwan Saihung grew up in the 1920's. His was a life of a cross between imperial China and modern China. This is his biography. His education was at the hands of one of the many Taoist monasteries. At first, he is only nine years old, he is taken to the monastery for a yearly ceremony. He is taken back, tricked to accompany his Taoist monk guides. He gets scared to finish the journey, childish fears, so he is tricked again to finish his trip and he begins his life's journey.
Kwan is trained in the tradition of this monastery and meets a lot of people and learns from masters of all sorts of fields, especially martial arts. It is quite a story. In the end he finds his purpose, and the meaning of all that he has been studying of Taoism, deep in meditation in a cave. It reminds me of the womb we all come out of, a rebirth like all Christians, only different.
It does give some of his experience during the war with Japan (World War II). That is interesting. It is not often you get an eye witness account of what happened in such horrible times.
Kwan is trained in the tradition of this monastery and meets a lot of people and learns from masters of all sorts of fields, especially martial arts. It is quite a story. In the end he finds his purpose, and the meaning of all that he has been studying of Taoism, deep in meditation in a cave. It reminds me of the womb we all come out of, a rebirth like all Christians, only different.
It does give some of his experience during the war with Japan (World War II). That is interesting. It is not often you get an eye witness account of what happened in such horrible times.
August 20, 2013
This out-of-print book is a rare gem of secret taoist practices and lore from 20-40's era temples on Mt. Hua, China. These practices have been since forgotten as the practitioners at Huashan have relocated to the Kunlun Mountinas.
May 14, 2018
Not at all what I was expecting.
As an historical document or manual (of martial arts, spiritual practice, or herbal medicine), too vague and clearly hagiographic to be useful. There were a few good bits (training for falling from heights, for example), but they were few and far between.
As a fictional narrative, deeply cliched and somewhat predictable, not very well-written. Tells rather than shows characterization (in, for example, the two acolyte brothers). Strongest point of the writing was the imagery in a few sections. Still manages to be fairly engrossing, and an easy read.
Reminded me of Journey to Ixtlan, in that it presented a bunch of supernatural claims within an historical context with zero skepticism. Probably most interesting to me as an account of enlightenment from a tradition I'm not very familiar with, placed within the cross-tradition, non-supernatural context of enlightenment framed by Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha and The Mind Illuminated.
As an historical document or manual (of martial arts, spiritual practice, or herbal medicine), too vague and clearly hagiographic to be useful. There were a few good bits (training for falling from heights, for example), but they were few and far between.
As a fictional narrative, deeply cliched and somewhat predictable, not very well-written. Tells rather than shows characterization (in, for example, the two acolyte brothers). Strongest point of the writing was the imagery in a few sections. Still manages to be fairly engrossing, and an easy read.
Reminded me of Journey to Ixtlan, in that it presented a bunch of supernatural claims within an historical context with zero skepticism. Probably most interesting to me as an account of enlightenment from a tradition I'm not very familiar with, placed within the cross-tradition, non-supernatural context of enlightenment framed by Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha and The Mind Illuminated.
January 10, 2012
I have owned this book for nearly twenty years, but never read it in its entirety until today. It is an extremely interesting and engaging read if you are interested in the traditions of Chinese martial arts and Taoism. A biographical narrative of the early years of Ming-Dao Deng's Sifu, it is written in a manner is both entertaining and informative on many levels--from the stories of training, meditation, remnants of medieval Chinese family life, to the diagrams that relate the principles of Taoism in the human body or the cosmos. A valuable book. (I was reading Paul Pitchford's "Healing with Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition" and came across references to "The Wandering Taoist" and decided it was finally time to read this book--very glad I did).
January 11, 2011
The foundations of Chinese medicine. I think this is a great book to even start reading to your kids. But a lovely story incorporating the fundamental theory used in the medicine I practice. I would recommend this book to all TCM students.
December 13, 2009
A fun book, but ...
September 14, 2014
An amazing journey
July 31, 2016
I would not recommend this as an introduction to Taoism - but certainly a good read for those with some familiarity of "the way". Some fascinating historical aspects of Taoism and China in general.
May 10, 2020
When I was studying tai chi tong long, I became a senior student. At that time my Sifu gave this book to me to read. It's a very interesting book. It's full of adventure and detailed descriptions of the different styles . I just couldn't put it down. I would go to a park and sit under the shade of a,tree to read it . That was,about 30years ago. I gave the book back to my sifu/instructor . Now I ordered it. I found a hard copy in Amazon and will read it again then put it in my library.
March 10, 2018
Wow, what a pleasant surprise - a wonderful story and deep dive into Taoism. Took me by surprised and gripped me the whole way through!
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August 24, 2020A wonderful exploration of a martial artist's journey on the way to becoming his higher self.
September 12, 2023
One of the best books I've ever read
April 12, 2025
BucksBooks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHrke...
It tries to be a kung fu movie in novel form and I can't overemphasize how well it delivers.
It tries to be a kung fu movie in novel form and I can't overemphasize how well it delivers.
May 9, 2020
Interesting insight into the emerging world of China from 1900-1940 and its mix of old and new worlds clashing. From ancient temples, sorcery, martial masters and street challenges among different styles, to mountain Taoists and temples, all against the backdrop of the impinging world of modernity and warfare with the Japanese.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews