The title of this book is misleading; it is not a philosophy book but rather primarily an art book. However, it is a nice book for someone interested in how Taoist thought influenced Chinese art. There is a short, thirty page, introduction which is actually quite good and informative. It's brief account of Taoist inner alchemy (yoga) was well-done. There are many nice color pictures of Chinese art with commentary to show and explain how Taoist thought was expressed and took form in Chinese art. I would highly recommend this book for someone who is familiar with Taoist thought and wishes to explore it from another angle.

I purchased this book for "high quality artwork" and depictions and translations of chinese charachters. The artistry is poor to say the least, and the amount of information leaves a bit to be desired. I did not find this book to be a source of artwork worthy of being applied to the skin as a tattoo either. Overall I found the book overglorified.

I have read some Chinese books on Taoist magic and I think this is a fairly first-look for Westerners. On the down side, it isn't comprehensive in any aspect, as such one cannot perform any Taoist magic based on the information in this book. It provides interesting and correct information, but the information is not enough.

I think some of the readers have misunderstood the purpose of this book. This book is not to be used as a source for tattoo designs. Taoist charms/talismans often comprise Chinese calligraphic characters and in addition, various symbols eg. 3 dots written horizonally which has symbolic meanings. A taoist magician knows such symbolisms and the associated chants (if it needs a chant to "activate") of the talisman/charm. I was burnt by a talisman and it took me a few years for the scar to heal completely. I was a disbeliever then. Now, to me, it is not a matter of whether Taoist magic works but rather, based on what that makes it work... this book does not cover this even at a beginner's level. It is just a sort of "entertainment", light-reading about Taoist magic.

For people looking for Chinese calligraphy for tattoos, this is not for that purpose. It is about Taoist magic, not Chinese calligraphic designs!!

This book is a first-look at Taoist magic only. Do not expect to be able to perform any magick after reading it... as it requires much more information and understanding than provided by this book. In fact, in chanting spells, it is also a requisite to pronounce Chinese words correctly and also knowledge of the various deities in Taoist folklore.

excellent resource for tattoo designs.Very imformative on the Chinese Art of the Occult.