Walking Two Roads compares Chinese thought to that of the West. With recent Western interest in Chinese Buddhism (also known as Zen) and Daoism an understanding of their underlying ways of thinking is crucial for approaching them properly. The topics treated include worldview, world – man relation, and mind and consciousness. A unique feature of the book is the comparison between Daoism and Chinese Buddhism on the one hand, and the Greek schools of Epicureanism and Stoicism on the other. A remarkable similarity as well as a significant difference is found between these ways of life. In both China and Greece they learned how to live in the ‘Now’. But in China this is centred around the body, while in Greece this was a strictly rational pursuit. The main differences between the Chinese and Western ways can be summarised in the words ‘accord’ and ‘separation’. Clearly, in East and West different roads have been, and still are walked. Yet, these roads do not inevitably entail different ways of life. ‘Walking two roads at once’ (Zhuangzi) it is possible to go beyond accord and separation.

Hans van Rappard is Professor Emeritus at VU University in Amsterdam
where he has taught History and Theory of Psychology.
After retirement he turned to the study of Chinese Philosophy and Buddhism.