Tao

Alan Watts's final book, completed with the help of calligrapher and tai chi teacher Al Chung-liang Huang after Watts's death in 1973. It distills Watts's view of Taoism through four basic principles — the Yin-Yang polarity, the Tao, Wu-wei (effortless action), and Te — drawing on ancient and modern sources and illustrated with calligraphic samples of the Chinese texts discussed.

As in his earlier The Way of Zen, Watts treats Eastern philosophy as a practical way of living: observing the natural world and moving with it rather than imposing on it.